A Red Stained Remnant II
by Kerrigor2
Summary: Five years have passed since Team RWBY's last run in with Myrka Vald, and threat he poses has been all but forgotten. Little do they know, threats are growing on all sides. Mysteries come to light and threaten to tear down the very world the girls call home.
1. Five Years Later

Ruby closed her eyes. She could feel Weiss' fingers caressing her face, gliding down her nose, and tracing her lips before slipping away. Ruby took a shuddering breath at the sensation. Weiss traced a finger down her cheek, brushing her ear. Ruby's heart thudded, beating against her ribs. An anxious fire kindled in her chest. She wasn't nervous, but eager. She could smell Weiss, she was that close. Ruby remembered the feeling of Weiss' lips on hers on the day they'd first confessed their love for each other.

It was intoxicating, the sensation of _Weiss. _Her presence, her smell, her taste. Everything about Weiss set Ruby's nerves aflame; the slightest touch set her skin aflame. She heard a giggle. Weiss' voice. The feeling in her chest—the burning; the anxiety; the hopeless, unstoppable, insatiable love—swelled. Ruby took a gasping breath and opened her mouth to speak: to tell Weiss how much she loved her.

Another finger touched her lips and Ruby shivered again. Her whole body cried out for Weiss. People called it desire; this was a _need._ Ruby needed Weiss more than she'd ever needed anything else. Ruby had thought from a young age that her dream in life was to be a Huntress, to help people. Now she knew… she'd give it up in a heartbeat if Weiss had asked her to—though she knew that Weiss would never ask.

A finger slid down Ruby's neck, pausing at the small hollow at the base of her neck. She arched her head back, revelling in Weiss' intimate caresses. Her skin was on fire. Heat was rushing through her.

Ruby reached out. She whispered Weiss' name as she reached for Weiss' cheek. Her lips softened as she reached out for a kiss. Anticipation threatened to overwhelm her. The memory of their last kiss was enough to set her imagination wild.

Her hands grabbed nothing but air.

Ruby smiled. Weiss' always loved playing games. Ruby would never have guessed how much of a tease she would be; she's always seemed so direct, so serious. She reached out again.

Nothing.

Ruby grasped with both hands and opened her eyes—

Her hands closed around nothing. The rain poured down on her. The spell was broken. Ruby remembered.

Weiss was gone.

And it was her fault.

Her hands fell to her sides as the realization crushed her. Her face was turned upwards, letting the rain wash over her. _Raindrops. Not Weiss. Just the rain._ Tears welled up and overflowed in a heartbeat, mixing with the rain that ran down her face.

She let out a shuddering cry and looked down at her feet, covering her mouth with a hand. It did nothing to stop the tears, or the sobs that followed. Her shoulders shook as she sucked in ragged breaths in between gasping, tear-filled cries. Water ran into her mouth, and she tasted salt.

A gust of wind blew past and Ruby's knees almost gave out. She stayed upright through sheer force of will, fighting back against the wave of grief that threatened to crush. Rain ran down the back of her neck, making her shiver again.

Ruby stiffened her spine. She didn't wipe away the tears that had already been shed, but she fought back more. Something tugged at her neck. She raised a hand to her collar and pulled at the thin, silver chain. It jumped free with a light tug and bounced into the air.

Ruby caught it at eye level. She lowered her hand and opened it. In her palm lay a small, silver snowflake. The symbol of the Schnee family. Weiss' symbol. And Ruby's only memento of her.

The grief hit her even stronger at the sight of pendant. She closed her hand, squeezing. The points of the snowflake jabbed into her hand, but she ignored it. The pain helped hold back more tears. Pain was all she had now.

She tucked the pendant into her shirt and sucked in a deep breath. She closed her eyes and held the breath until her head began to spin, then held it a little longer. Her lungs cried out for air and, once they screamed for it, Ruby gasped and breathed in.

The grief lingered. The pain didn't fade. But that was nothing new. Ruby had grown used to that over the last year. Heartache and sorrow had been her constant companions, and she'd learnt to cope.

Barely.

Ruby opened her eyes just as a gust of wind blew at her. It whipped her jacket out behind her and blew a splash of rain into her face. She winced as the water flew into her eyes and reached up to raise her hood.

Once again, her hands grasped at nothing. _That's right. That's gone too. _Remembering Weiss had dragged Ruby back to her past, in more ways than one. She'd gotten rid of her hood a few months after her graduation from Beacon—soon after losing Weiss. Now she wore a long, dark red trench coat—so dark it was almost black. The hem of the coat whipped against her ankles in the wind. Another gust blew the coat back, revealing the inner lining to be a bright red—sewn from the remains of her beloved cape.

_Time to grow up_, she had decided. Enough with the childish cape and hood. The coat served as a reminder of her past; it was a part of her life that she'd outgrown, not forgotten.

Once the wind died down, Ruby's eyes focussed on the view before her. Vale stretched out for miles, a vast, sprawling metropolis. The lights of the city shone up from in between the buildings below her. Ruby looked down from her rooftop. The street below her was utterly devoid of life, not even a stray animal was in sight.

A bell tolled in the city, a long, deep hum that echoed off the buildings. Each chime hit Ruby multiple times as the sound bounced off the buildings around her.

Twelve tolls of the bell.

Midnight.

Ruby sucked in another ragged breath.

Midnight… The beginning of a new day.

Weiss' birthday.

Ruby stood on the edge of the rooftop, gazing down at Vale, as a tear spilled over and ran down her right cheek. The sound of the bell died away slowly, and Ruby wiped away the solitary tear. She could feel the cool metal of the pendant touching her chest—just another cold reminder.

She grabbed the pendant and held it up. _I should just throw it away_, she thought. _She's never coming back. I should get rid of it! _She glared at the snowflake, squeezing it once again. All it did was cause her pain. What was the _point_ in keeping it?

She tucked the pendant back into her shirt, clutching it tightly to her chest. No, that was one thing she could never do. Not in a million years.

Ruby took another deep breath and looked out over Vale. Other than the storm, the night was peaceful. All of Vale, at peace, safe, sheltered. She couldn't help but feel bitter. She had once had safety, peace, love. Now here she was, standing on a rooftop in the middle of a storm, trying to remember what she'd lost over a year ago. But, try as she might, she couldn't stop. She couldn't get over Weiss. She didn't think she ever would.

_It was all my fault, _she thought. _How am I supposed to just get over that?_

A police siren pierced the night, cutting through Ruby's thoughts. She reacted on instinct, spinning to the right—where the sound had come from. She dashed to the edge of the roof and looked down. The siren was getting closer, and the flashing lights were visible on the walls of buildings a block away.

Ruby reached to her belt and pulled out Crescent Rose, unfolding the vicious scythe in a flash and resting it on her shoulder. The police car appeared, hurtling around a corner onto the street below. It didn't appear to be chasing anything, but Ruby stayed where she was and watched, just in case.

The car came to a stop directly below Ruby and the policemen got out of the car. They pulled out guns and looked around frantically. Ruby was about to jump down and ask what they were looking for, but they hurriedly jumped back in the car and sped off, tires spinning on the wet road.

As Ruby watched them drive way, she couldn't help but feel confused. What were they doing? The car turned the first corner it came to, heading back the way it came. Who, or what, were they looking for?

Ruby sheathed Crescent Rose and started to turn away when a flash of movement caught her eye. She whipped back around and narrowed her eyes against the rain. Sure enough, there was another movement across the road. There was someone peeking out of an alley across the road from her. The combination of heavy rain and distance made it almost impossible for Ruby to make out any details, but she _thought_ it was a man. It would certainly be a worryingly sized woman if the figure was female—not even Pyrrha was that tall.

The figure edged out of the alley and, once it looked around for more police, ran across the road, toward Ruby.

She smiled. _Big mistake._

The figure—definitely a man, Ruby could see that now that he was closer—turned in the direction that the police had gone and began running up the street. Ruby ran alongside him, albeit five floors above. She reached the edge of the roof and looked down. The man paused to look down the alley that would lead him directly under her, but continued running down the street.

Ruby clicked her tongue in frustration. She drew Crescent Rose in a flurry and, with no hesitation, threw herself off the roof. The man below ran, oblivious to her rapid descent. Ruby aimed her descent towards a streetlight a few metres down the street. She swung Crescent Rose as she approached and hooked the scythe on the horizontal bar of the light. The world blurred as she spun in a tight circle.

She flicked her scythe off the light and kicked herself forward, towards where the man was now running. In mid-air she realised she was off target. The man was running parallel to her flight, but he was at least two metres to her right.

_Damn. _There was no way for her to both reach him _and_ avoid notice. She had to pick one.

Crescent Rose roared. Ruby was pushed towards the man and was now falling directly towards him. He glanced over his shoulder at the noise, stumbling slightly. She was close enough now to see his eyes widen at the sight of her rocketing towards him. He tried to quicken his pace but by then it was too late. Ruby slammed into his back feet-first and he went sprawling on his stomach.

Ruby kicked off him and back-flipped, landing on her feet five metres from where he landed, with Crescent Rose at the ready. The man, showing a surprising level of agility for someone his size, pushed off the ground with his hands, spun through the air and landed facing Ruby.

He was definitely tall. Taller than Pyrrha, without a doubt. Probably taller than Jaune as well, though he didn't look much older than Ruby—five years at most. His hair was long, hanging to his shoulders, and was a deep crimson. His eyes were a bright, vibrant blue.

And, for some reason, despite the cold, he wasn't wearing a shirt. He wore a pair of long pants and a pair of leather boots, but his upper body was completely exposed. Ruby had held Sun as her standard of 'men with abs', but this guy put Sun to shame. His entire upper body was rippling with muscles and covered with scattered scars. His arms were as thick as small tree trunks, his shoulders hulked intimidatingly and his chest and stomach looked like it had been carved from marble.

Ruby wasn't sure if she should be impressed or terrified.

She noticed a thin leather strap wrapping around his chest, but couldn't see what it was connected to. She didn't have to wait long to find out. The man had apparently realized that he couldn't evade Ruby the way he had the police and was getting ready to fight. He dipped a shoulder and swung a large, black shield off his back and onto his arm. He grinned at Ruby. It wasn't a normal smile. It was… bloodthirsty.

Ruby straightened, resting Crescent Rose on the ground. The man's head cocked to the side in interest at the sight of it. Ruby took a breath before speaking.

"Who are you?" she called out.

The man just smiled, saying nothing.

Ruby aimed Crescent Rose at him and chambered another round. "Who are you!?" she shouted. "Why were the police chasing you?"

The man eyed the scythe for a few seconds, still saying nothing. Ruby opened her mouth to speak again, but he cut her off.

"What's your name?" His voice was rough, gravelly—like he'd spent many years spending a lot of time shouting. It fit with his physique. He had the body of a hardened warrior, the scars to prove it, and the kind of voice you'd imagine an angry soldier to have.

Ruby pointedly ignored the question. "Why are the police chasing you? Who are you?"

The man smiled but, again, didn't answer. Ruby was beginning to get angry, and a little worried. The man was standing in front of a Huntress, and didn't even blink; he _grinned_ while ignoring her questions.

Ruby swung Crescent Rose behind her and got ready to attack. "I'll give you one last chance. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Ruby saw the man's teeth as he grinned. She counted to five as she waited for him to answer. He said nothing. _Alright. I gave you enough chances._

Ruby fired Crescent Rose behind her and rocketed towards the man. His grin seemed to grow wider as she swung her scythe towards him. He stepped forward at the last second and smashed his shield into Crescent Rose.

Ruby's arms screamed in pain at the impact. He was stronger than he looked. _And that's saying something. _She tightened her grip despite the pain and used the shield as a fulcrum to swing herself over his head.

A hand reached towards her, grasping for her leg. She fired again—the bullet ricocheted off his shield and into the night—and spun away, chambering a third round.

Her boots slipped on the wet road and she skidded a few metres before stopping, though she retained her footing. The man frowned for moment before breaking into another grin.

Ruby dashed towards him, blurring into a flurry of rose petals. She caught a glimpse of his surprised face before Crescent Rose crashed into his shield and sent him flying into the wall behind him.

The wall buckled slightly as he hit it; the bricks cracked and caved inwards a few inches. The man pushed himself off the wall with a laugh. Ruby raised an eyebrow. He actually sounded genuinely amused. _Who is this guy?_

The man shook his head with another laugh. "Well this is a nice surprise for my first night. No one told me Vale would be so hospitable. But maybe we can make this a bit more fun."

The bottom three quarters of the shield folded up and formed a long pole with a black leather grip at the bottom, while a blade jutted out of either side of the section that remained. In the blink of an eye, the man's shield had turned into a double-bladed battle axe. A small lever jutted out and over the grip, like a knuckle guard.

The man shot Ruby another grin and pointed the axe at her. He squeezed the lever and a burst of fire shot out from the end of the axe. Ruby swung Crescent Rose as she jumped away. Shotgun shells pinged off the head of her scythe. Some of them hit her legs, but her aura protected her from the brunt of the damage.

By the time she brought her scythe down, the man was lunging towards her. His axe streaked towards her neck, his grin even wider. Ruby dashed to the side, leaving a puff of petals in her wake.

She fired before she'd even stopped moving and used the momentum to lunge towards the man's now exposed side. But somehow he'd managed to recover from his swing in time and slammed his shield into Crescent Rose. Before Ruby could jump away, he slammed his shoulder into the shield and sent Ruby sailing backwards.

Ruby toppled backwards as she flew, until she had her back to the ground. She heard the man laugh and gritted her teeth. If she landed on her back he'd be on her in an instant, and the fight would be over. She tensed her stomach, curled her feet up and collapsed Crescent Rose into its half-extended sniper rifle form. She stabbed the barrel downwards and sparks flew as it scraped along the ground. Ruby's momentum carried her onwards as Crescent Rose slowed down. The rifle tipped her upwards and Ruby used it to flick herself up, pushing off the ground. Then she fired, launching herself into the air.

The man's axe nicked past her head as she flew upwards. The gust of wind that came with its passing flicked Ruby's hair into her face. She saw a lock of her hair fly free and fall back towards the ground

She looked back down at the man as she fired again, sending herself even higher. _You're lucky you aren't fighting Yang,_ she thought with a grim smile. _There'd be nothing left of you._

The man saw her smile and grinned in return. He took a step back and readied his axe for another strike.

"You're more fun than I thought you'd be!" he laughed. He dashed forward, swinging the axe back as he approached.

Ruby swung Crescent Rose's blade back out and flipped herself upright. She fired upwards and jerked as her momentum reversed and she rocketed towards the ground. She spun as she fell and rose petals danced in a flurry around her as she turned into a whirling blur.

Her scythe crashed into the man's shield. _How does he recover so damn fast?_ Ruby gritted her teeth and twisted Crescent Rose. She snared the edge of the shield with the hook that jutted out on the back of her scythe's head and wrenched the shield aside. The man's eyes widened as Ruby's feet slammed into his chest and sent him flying backwards, tearing the shield from his grip.

To the man's credit, he recovered as fast as he ever did. He planted one hand on the ground as he toppled over and vaulted away, turning his fall into a full flip and landing on his feet five metres away. Without even glancing at his weapon, which lay barely a few metres away, he threw himself at Ruby. He reached out with his bare hands, grasping for her throat.

Ruby fired Crescent Rose to the left and was jerked to the right. The man growled in agitation, his amused smile gone. _That_ made Ruby smile. She fired again and dashed behind him. Fired again as he spun to face her, so she stood to his left. Fired again. And again.

She dashed in a circle around him, getting faster with each shot. Rose petals filled with air and were scattered by the falling rain. The man glanced away for an instant as a rose petal drifted in front of his face, and that was when Ruby struck. She fired directly away from him and flashed towards him. He barely had time to register that an arrow-shaped spear of red was tearing towards him before Ruby slammed Crescent Rose into him.

Somehow the man was quick enough to lean back, rolling with the blow. His hand lashed out, quick as a viper, and closed around Ruby's throat. Ruby gasped for air as his hand squeezed, but was quickly cut off. The man spun with the force of Crescent Rose and hurled Ruby into the wall behind him.

Ruby managed to flip herself around just in time and she hit the wall feet-first, bending her knees to soften the impact. She looked up as she chambered a round, ready to launch herself off the wall and straight into another attack.

A sudden pain seared through her neck.

Ruby cried out in pain and fell to her knees. She raised a hand to her throat, but felt nothing there. As soon as the pain had arrived, it was gone; she wasn't even sure it had actually been there at all.

She looked up and shot to her feet. The man was standing in the middle of the road, resting his battle-axe on one shoulder. He looked utterly relaxed; Ruby felt a surge of anger at his look of disinterest.

"Well as fun as this has been," he said in a smug voice. "I'm afraid this fight is over. I'd advise you to stand down before you get hurt; I don't want to have to kill anyone on my first night."

Ruby smirked. Over? She was just getting started.

Crescent Rose roared once again and Ruby flashed towards him. He didn't react, didn't move his axe, didn't try to dodge. All he did was shake his head. Ruby swung Crescent Rose as hard as she could into his side. Ruby saw the man get knocked to the ground, saw blood blossom and run down his side.

Then her ribs caved in.

Ruby screamed as she fell to the ground, barely holding onto Crescent Rose. She heard the man laugh as she tried to pick herself up. Her vision blurred as agony burned through her. She placed a hand gently on her ribs, feeling for any blood.

There was nothing there; she couldn't feel any damage at all. Touching the spot didn't hurt her at all either. She looked down in confusion. It looked like there was nothing wrong. There was no damage to her clothes, she couldn't feel any blood, or even any cracked ribs. But her side was still screaming in agony.

Another laugh caught her attention and Ruby looked up. The man was standing a few metres away, resting his axe on his shoulder again. There was blood running down his side, though he ignored it. He was still wearing that _stupid_ smile.

"I told you," he said. "It's over. Better to just give up."

Ruby gritted her teeth and dragged herself to her feet. She didn't give up that easily. The man frowned at her.

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you," he said.

Ruby almost laughed. _You'd like that, wouldn't you?_ She couldn't open her mouth to say it; she was too preoccupied gritting her teeth against the pain.

The man's gaze flickered away and he winced slightly. He half-raised a hand towards his head as he clenched his eyes shut. He shook his head fiercely.

Ruby saw her chance. She pushed herself forward, through the pain, and fired Crescent Rose to launch herself towards him.

The man's head whipped up. Ruby caught a glimpse of his eyes just before she struck; blue gems surrounded by a terrifying red. He stepped forwards, inside Crescent Rose's arc. The scythe blade wrapped around him and stabbed into the back of his left arm, rather than hitting him in the side as Ruby had intended.

Her left arm screamed in pain and she reflexively let go of Crescent Rose. She caught one more glimpse of the man's face—his eyes were terrifyingly bloodshot and his mouth was twisted in a hideous leer—before a fist crashed into her face.

She was knocked back. Crescent Rose slipped from the grip of her weaker right hand and she hit the ground weaponless. The man was on her in a flash, his hands wrapping around her neck. Ruby struggled, but the man was holding her down, and he was far stronger than her. Her side was still in agony, as well as her left arm and now she could feel blood running down her face.

The man leant in close. All trace of his earlier cocky grin was gone. All that was left now was animal rage. He grunted as his hands squeezed. Ruby gasped her air, kicking her legs, but to no avail.

The edges of Ruby's vision turned white and black spots swam before her eyes. All she could hear was the man's animalistic panting as he crushed her windpipe.

She pulled at his hands.

Tugged at his fingers.

Nothing worked.

White closed in.

Spots grew bigger.

Sound faded.

Ruby…

Went…

Numb…

The pressure lifted.

Ruby sucked in a gasping breath. Her vision swam, everything blended together into an incoherent swirl. She went into a fit of coughing, trying to gasp for breath at the same time. Her throat felt like it was on fire, and the pain she'd been feeling before started coming back. Every rain drop that landed on her head sent a pulse of pain through her brain.

Some part of her remained alert and tried to find the man. She pushed herself up onto one elbow and blinked repeatedly, trying to clear her vision. Everything was still blurry and unclear, but it was a little better. Enough to make out the shape of her almost-murderer a few metres away.

He was bending forward, with his head in his hands, muttering unintelligibly. Ruby tried to turn her head, to look for Crescent Rose, but she pain lanced through her, and she fell back to the ground. She tried to pant, but breathing too hard sent pain shooting through her as well. She was terrified; this man was clearly insane and liable to kill her at any moment, and she couldn't do a thing. Even _breathing_ put her in crippling pain.

She had nothing to do but wait until the pain lessened—it did, but _very_ little—and she could look at the man again. Her heart leapt into her throat. The man was standing right over now, axe in hand. He was panting as if in pain and glaring down at Ruby. Rain dripped off his long, drenched hair and onto Ruby.

Ruby tried to move.

Tried to scream.

Tried to plead.

Tried to close her eyes.

The pain was still crippling, and prevented her from moving or speaking, and a mix of terror and morbid curiosity stopped her from closing her eyes. She watched as the man got down on one knee and pressed a hand to her head. She flinched away from touch and nearly screamed again as pain lanced through her.

His touch was gentle, strangely so. Ruby lay still, utterly frozen, convinced that she was about to die. Tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't want to die, but here it was anyway. In her mind, she whimpered in fear. She couldn't help it; the terror was overwhelming. She'd been prepared to die for years, to die protecting people, saving innocent lives.

But this… This was no heroic death of a Huntress of legend. This was slaughter. She was like a helpless animal, unable to defend itself.

The man's hand stroked down her face tenderly, until he caressed her neck. His hand lingered on her throat for a few seconds, just a light touch. He was still breathing heavily and occasionally muttering angrily under his breath. Her head was pounding too hard for her to make out any of his ramblings, but the sound was enough to terrify her even more.

Then his hand lifted away.

Ruby's heart almost stopped in surprise.

The man spoke, his voice loud enough for her to understand, though it sounded pained.

"I told you: it's over. You're lucky to be alive, girl. Next time, don't be stupid."

And with that, he was gone. Ruby could make out his blurred form walking away, slinging his shield onto his back as he left Ruby lying alone in the middle of the street.

As he blended into the rain—Ruby's vision too blurry to see him across the growing distance between them—the pain in Ruby's side and arm faded. When she couldn't see the man anymore, she slumped back to the ground. She closed her eyes as the pain faded further.

_I'm alive…_

She was as surprised at the realisation as she was relieved. She laughed, a blend of relief and hysteria, then regretted it immediately as it set her throat afire. So that pain wasn't going to magically fade away…

She blinked in surprise. The pain in her side and arm was completely gone. She was still in agony: her head was pounding, her throat was burning and she could still feel blood running from what felt like a broken nose, but it was an improvement.

She levered herself onto one elbow again; it was much easier this time. She looked around her and realised that her vision was slowly focussing again. _Alright,_ she thought with trepidation. _Let's get up. Come on, Ruby!_

She hauled herself into a sitting position and her head swam, but without the pain in her side and arm, she could manage it. It took her a minute or two, but she managed to eventually drag herself to her feet.

The rain washed over her. Ruby looked up and opened her mouth. She collected half a mouthful of water and swallowed it. It was a little soothing to her throat, but she could tell it didn't do much.

She looked around—slowly—for Crescent Rose. It was laying a metre behind her, still in its scythe form. Ruby hobbled over towards it. She bent down and grabbed it, almost toppled as she straightened, but managed to maintain her footing. Taking a moment to gasp for breath, Ruby examined her surroundings, trying to get her bearings.

Her vision had cleared enough by now that she could see the building she'd been standing on top of before all this had started, about fifty metres down the street. Sighing in resignation, Ruby started the long hobble back towards it.

It took her what felt like a year—though it was more likely just a few minutes—but she reached the front of the building. Every step sent a stab of pain through her head, making simply climbing the small staircase to the front door an ordeal.

She unlocked the door to the building with her scroll and stepped inside. Getting out of the rain made her feel better. Her head threatened to split apart from the inside with each step, but at least it didn't hurt as much if she stood still now.

There was no noise within the building, which was understandable—it_ was_ the middle of the night. Ruby hobbled past the staircase, to the elevator. The doors opened as soon as she pressed the call button, and she shuffled in. She hit the button for the top floor and slumped against the wall as the elevator rose. She fought with all her might to stay upright. If she fell over, she knew she wouldn't get back up on her own.

The elevator shuddered gently as it stopped, and the doors opened. The hallway before her was well-lit, short, and had only two doors—one on each side. The entire top floor of the building was split between two apartments—one of them Ruby's. She slid along the wall to her door, eternally grateful for the short hallway.

She held her scroll in front of the scanner on the wall and the lock clicked open. She pushed the door open and nearly fell inside. The door clicked shut and locked behind her.

The room was large, wide and open. There was a dining table to Ruby's left, a kitchen directly in front of her, and—alluringly—a bedroom to her right. The bedroom was the first door in a short hallway that ran behind the kitchen, and Ruby forced herself to walk past it. She staggered down the hallway, to the bathroom.

It was a simple room. Tiled floors and walls. A shower set against the far wall, a toilet on the left, and a sink and medicine cabinet on the right. Ruby opened the medicine and pulled out a packet of painkillers. Her head was still pounding. She read the side of the packet—_take two pills every 12 hours as needed—_and tipped out four.

She pushed them into her mouth and turned on the tap. She leant forward, sucked in a mouthful of water and swung her head back as she gulped it down. Her head swam with the sudden movement and her throat cried out in protest as the pills went down, but she managed to swallow them.

Having accomplished that, Ruby moved on to the herculean task of getting back to her bedroom. She moved down the wall, using it as support, and eventually came to her door. She stumbled inside, threw Crescent Rose onto the floor, and toppled onto her bed.

Then, and only then, did Ruby relax.

Her head throbbed in pain. She knew she needed to get to sleep—she was utterly exhausted by the night's events—but she also knew that she wasn't going to, at least until the painkillers kicked in.

So she lay there, stewing in her pain and misery, the fight running through her head over and over again. Who was that man? What did he want in Vale? If he was up to no good, why had he let Ruby live?

Eventually, the pain faded away, and Ruby sighed in relief. Sleep crashed over her now that her mind was free of the debilitating pain, but, as she drifted off, she remembered.

Weiss.

Her heart seized in her chest, and she felt the grief wash over her again. She almost wanted the pain back instead.

All of a sudden, sleep was a long time coming.


	2. The Thrill of the Chase

**A/N: I refrained from writing one of these in the first chapter, cause I didn't want to ruin the impact, so I guess I'll write my first one here. Welcome to my sequel! I hope you'll enjoy your time here, though you can expect some feels somewhere along the line so maybe you won't enjoy that part as much... Anyway! Here's Chapter 2. I'm going to stick to one chapter a week for now, at least until I finish this semester at uni. I have my last exam on the... 21st of November (Maybe?), so I might change things up after that, depending on how fast I end up writing and how often you all want updates. **

**So I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Reviews are much appreciated, both the critical and ego-stroking variety. And... Yeah! That's it. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The Beowolf roared in pain as Yang's punch, combined with a blast from Ember Celica, blew off its arm. Yang grinned and swung another fist into its now unprotected chest, blowing a fist-sized hole in the middle of it. The roar cut off suddenly, and the Beowolf toppled back.<p>

Yang cracked her knuckles and cast her gaze over the battlefield. The light of the shattered half-moon illuminated the area well enough to see, but the circling Beowolves were still difficult to make out—they seemed to blend right into the darkness. All she could make out clearly at this distance was the white of their armour, and the glowing eyes.

None of them approached; they just circled warily. Yang cast her gaze around. There were eleven, all encircling her. She grinned. _This ought to be fun. _There was roar in the distance, outside the ring of Beowolves. An Ursa. Yang spun towards the noise, but couldn't see the monster through the darkness.

She clicked her tongue. An Ursa would've made this at least a little bit of a challenge. She rolled her neck, cracking it, and sighed. _Oh well._ She punched her fists together and a gout of flame flared behind her. As the light of the fire faded, Yang charged.

Two Beowolves roared as she approached and swung at her, their claws glinting in the pale moonlight. Yang fired Ember Celica at one, blowing off its arm, and tucked her shoulder towards the other. The second Beowolf's blow landed and her aura took the brunt of it—the claws didn't even cut her. She took the force of the blow and poured it into her semblance—her hair began to shimmer—and used the change in momentum to spin in between the two.

The Beowolf who'd lost an arm roared in pain, but lunged forward anyway, slashing at her with its remaining arm. Yang ducked the blow with a laugh—Grimm had never been good at boxing—and sent an uppercut slamming into its jaw. She fired an instant after her fist struck and blew the monster's head apart.

The other Beowolf lunged, half a second behind the first one, and Yang smoothly transitioned the uppercut into a jump. She soared over the blow and twisted in the air. The Beowolf growled as it looked up at her. Yang grinned as she cocked a fist and began to fall. Before the Beowolf had a chance to recover from its own swing, Yang's fist crashed into its head. Its armour cracked from the force of the punch alone, and a blast from Ember Celica turned its head into a red spray.

Something struck her from behind and knocked her forwards. She rolled with the blow—pouring the energy into her semblance again—and spun to face the new enemy as she rolled to her feet. Three Beowolves replaced the two she'd defeated, all lunging at once. Yang charged at them and jumped toward them.

She fired at the ground as she jumped, sending her higher and into a tight spin. She spiralled over the monsters and fired another shot the back of one of them as she passed. The one she shot staggered, but the other two spun quickly to face her. Knowing that there were more coming from behind, Yang threw herself forward.

She ducked their swipes and straightened when she stood in between the two Beowolves. She faced one of them and fired. It staggered back from the force. Before Yang could spin to the other one, it slammed a taloned hand into her back—just as planned. Smoke rose from her hair as she poured even more energy into her semblance and she used the force of the blow to lunge towards the staggered Beowolf even faster.

She threw two punches into its ribs and heard two crunches of shattered bones. The beast whimpered, clearly in agony. Yang put it out of its misery.

As it fell to the ground, Yang faced the other Beowolf. The third one had recovered and was standing with it. Light was flickering around them. Flames were dancing along Yang's hair, brightening the area more than the moon did. The Beowolves hesitated, and Yang struck.

The Grimm lashed out at her, but too late. Yang had already lunged well inside their guard and delivered a pair of bone-shattering, semblance-enhanced blows to each of their chests. Two identical holes appeared in each of the Beowolves' chests and they toppled backwards. Neither of them even had time to make a sound before they died.

Yang spun to face her remaining enemies and danced backwards, bringing her fists up. The area illuminated by her flames had shrunk slightly—her last two punches had leeched some of the energy from her semblance—and the Beowolves stalked back and forth on the edge of the circle of golden light. Yang glanced across their line quickly, counting.

_Five down, six to go. _Yang grinned. She stood on her toes, shifting her weight back and forth, ready to strike. She waited. They were all in front of her; none could hit her from behind. She could afford to catch her breath.

One of the Beowolves apparently had a surge of courage, because it lunged at Yang from the left end of the line with no warning. Yang shifted her weight to her back foot and threw herself to the left. She was moving towards the monster, but it had attacked from enough of an angle in front of her that she wasn't moving _directly_ towards it.

She twisted in the air and lashed out with her right foot. Her leg managed to slip between the Beowolf's gnashing teeth and slashing claws—missing the Beowolf completely. Once her foot was poised in the air above the monster's right shoulder, Yang swung it back and hooked her ankle on the back of its neck. She grabbed the monster's paw as it crashed into her chest, poured the energy into her semblance, and twisted to the right, bringing her foot down.

The Beowolf slammed into the ground face first and Yang heard a crack and a whimper. Yang pushed down on its neck and flicked herself into a spin. She landed lightly and used the momentum of her rapid spin to slam a foot into the monster's head. It's head jerked to the side and there was a loud crack as its neck snapped.

Yang looked up, her smile growing wider. _One more down. And that was _awesome_! _The remaining Beowolves hesitated, perhaps frightened by her manic grin. _Can't blame them. _I'd_ be scared if I had to fight someone as badass as me. _

The Ursa roared again, closer this time, from behind the Beowolves. Yang glanced over them, but still couldn't see it through the darkness. One of the beasts to her right glanced behind it as well, and Yang took her opportunity.

The blow she'd taken from the last Beowolf had fuelled her semblance quite well and Yang transferred a portion of that energy and put it behind the next blow. She fired Ember Celica as she struck and the monster's torso vanished, leaving a confused looking wolf head atop a pair of legs.

_Four. _

Yang lunged straight into another attack, ducked a swipe of dagger-sharp claws, and sent a thundering punch into the attacker's knee. The Beowolf howled and Yang cut its cry short with a quick uppercut to the jaw—combined with a shot from Ember Celica.

_Three._

One of them hit her from behind. Yang rolled forward, leeching the energy of the blow. The Ursa roared again, its roar now overpowering the growls of the Beowolves. Yang spun towards the noise and saw the hulking shape through the gloom. It wasn't clear, but she could make out its general outline in the moonlight.

Disregarding it for now, Yang fired two rounds at the nearest Beowolf. The monster, distracted too by the rapidly approaching Ursa, took both hits in the side and staggered away with a howl. Another one leapt over the wounded Beowolf's head, using his injured comrade as a platform to lunge at Yang.

Yang stepped to the left as the beast approached and turned with it as it passed. She ducked its swipe but stayed close enough to it that she could send a semblance-enhanced punch around its arm and into its head with her right hand. The monster hit the ground, and stayed there.

_Two._

The Ursa burst into the circle of firelight, its arms flailing madly. It clubbed both remaining Beowolves away and reared, roaring an angry challenge. Yang looked up at it, raising an eyebrow. It was _big_. Had to be an Ursa Major, and an old one, for it be so huge. It was at least twice Yang's height when it reared up.

The Ursa lurched towards one of the Beowolves and Yang could see the spikes of the armour on its back, jutting at least a metre out. The Ursa roared once again and a blurry shape seemed to jump off its back.

Yang stood, hands on her hips, as a burst of pink light exploded against the Ursa's back and it toppled forwards, crushing the Beowolf in front of it as it died. There was a sound of sliding metal and shifting gears. Pink light flashed once again as a hammer slammed into the chest of the last Beowolf. The figure, standing on the edge of Yang's circle of dwindling firelight, swung its hammer up and rested the weapon on its shoulder.

Yang grinned. "Hey Nora."

Nora stepped into the light. Her orange hair looked like a patch of fire in the yellow light, light that glinted in her turquoise eyes. She folded Magnhild into its launcher form and hung it on her back as she looked around. Her face was a mask of disappointment.

"Aww…" she groaned. "I missed out on all the fun."

"Don't worry," Yang said with a laugh. "There'll be more fun to have." The last of the flames in her hair faded away. "I was just… getting warmed up."

Nora looked around at the corpses of the Beowolves, looking more upset with each one she saw. Yang waited for a few seconds, hoping Nora would get the joke, then frowned and turned away when she realised it had gone over her head.

Yang stood in the moonlight and looked at her feet as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the gloom. Once she could make out the blades of grass under her boots, she looked up. In the distance, she could see a small village. There were some lights shining from within windows; not enough for her to see it clearly, but enough to see where it was.

_Smart_, she thought. _Keep the lights low; make it harder for Grimm to find you._

"So what happened?" Yang called out, glancing over her shoulder. Nora was kicking idly at the corpse of the Ursa and raised her head at Yang's question. She walked over and stood next to Yang, looking down at the village.

"None of the villagers seem to know anything," Nora said, scratching idly behind one ear. "They said that one of them was acting funny, though. Apparently he has a hunting cabin around here, so I figured I'd come grab you before I went there; thought you'd want to join in the fun."

"Oh, definitely." Yang grinned hungrily. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Nora grinned and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "So we're going in now?"

"Absolutely."

Nora cried out in excitement and jumped into the air. "Alright! Let's go. I know where the cabin is. Follow me!"

Nora suddenly launched into a run and disappeared into the darkness. Yang jerked into a chase, surprised by Nora's sudden departure. She caught up within a few seconds, running slightly behind Nora so that the orange-haired woman could lead the way.

Within minutes, they came to a slow stop. There was hunting cabin visible at the top of hill in front of them, near the edge of a small forest. Yang glanced towards the village, and back towards the hill where she'd fought the Beowolves.

"Do you think they'd have heard us?" she asked, more to herself than to Nora.

"Who cares?" Nora said. Her voice was dripping with excitement. "Let's go!"

Yang took a moment to inspect the cabin. It was small, likely just one room; isolated, there were no other structures in sight—other than the village in the distance; and lit from within, though she couldn't see any signs of movement through the window.

Nora was nearly jumping out of her skin in anticipation. "Can we go in? Come on, I want to _hit something!_" It was a testament to the energetic woman's innocent nature that Yang didn't even feel slightly disturbed by her outburst, she just chuckled and shook her head.

"We'll go in," Yang said. Nora started to cry out in excitement. "Slowly," Yang added, cutting Nora's celebration short. "And quietly. We want to make sure they're in there before we start destroying the poor man's house."

"And if they're in there?"

"Then he's clearly working with them and his house can go to hell."

Nora grinned evilly.

Yang shook her head again. Nothing got Nora more excited than the prospect of destroying something—at least as far as Yang knew. She'd have to remember to ask Ren when they got back to Vale.

Yang jogged quietly up the hill, Nora following close behind. They ran to the side of the building and leant against the wall. Nora swung Magnhild off her shoulder and shifted it into its hammer form. Yang pressed an ear to the wooden wall and closed her eyes, straining to hear anything happening inside, but couldn't make anything out. Either the wall was too thick, they knew the Huntresses were outside and were trying to be quiet, or they weren't there.

She could live with the first two, but the third one worried her. Yang had been chasing this crew down for weeks, tracing leads and going on a damn wild goose chase around half of Remnant. They were clever; they knew how to cover their tracks, but she'd found them a few days ago. Apparently they'd fled to a small village a few miles south of Atlas.

Not willing to give them the chance to slip away again, Yang had asked Nora to accompany her. The orange-topped ball of exuberance had been somewhat reluctant at first—she almost always went on missions with Ren, and _usually_ Jaune and Pyrrha as well. Though the teams had technically been disbanded after graduation, most of them tended to stick together. Years spent gelling together and learning how each other fought helped immensely on the battlefield, but the official disbandment of the teams meant that Hunters and Huntresses were allowed to take on missions alone, or with other companions, if they desired.

So Yang had asked Nora, knowing that her instinct for finding a fight would make sure Yang's quarry didn't get away again. Ren had spoken to Nora—told her that he couldn't come due to 'prior engagements' but that she should go anyway—and her reluctance had vanished almost immediately. Though they still hadn't meshed together entirely, still weren't quite sure how to complement each other best in a battle, Yang was grateful for Nora's company.

"They're in there!" Nora hissed, snapping Yang out of her thoughts. "I can _smell them_!"

Yang glanced back at her, raising a worried eyebrow. The more time she spent with Nora, the stranger the woman seemed. Yang couldn't help but feel a little glad Nora hadn't been on her team at Beacon. The thought of having to hold her reins, to keep her from going crazy while on a mission, seemed like a terrifying ordeal. Yang suddenly gained a newfound respect for Ren.

"Okay," Yang whispered. She pulled a fresh bandolier of shells from her belt and reloaded Ember Celica, dropping the unused shells from the previous bandolier into a small pouch. "We're going to go in as quiet as we can. If we can take them silently, all the better. If they fire on us, we give 'em hell."

Nora squeezed her eyes shut and tightened her grip on Magnhild. "Please fire on us. Please fire on us. Please fire on us!" she prayed quietly. Yang grinned. She had to admit: she was hoping for a fight too. After chasing these guys for the last few weeks, Yang wanted to break some bones before she locked them away.

Yang crept around the side of the house, to the front door. She held a hand out to Nora, signalling her to stop, and pointed at the door.

_Wait til I go in,_ she mouthed. _Jump through once it starts. _

Nora nodded with another grin and held Magnhild at the ready. Yang put a hand on the doorknob, blinked in surprise when she realised it unlocked, and pushed the door open. The door squeaked as it swung open; Yang winced at the noise. She stepped quickly into the room, and raised her fists, ready to attack.

The room was empty. There was a lit candle sitting alone on the table, its flame flickering in the draught that blew through the open door. There was one bed, against the wall, and a rack of hunting tools and weapons on the other side of the room.

Yang lowered her hands and swore. _Not here either. Where the _hell_ are they? _Nora followed her into the room and looked around curiously. She jumped up and down on the floor, eyes glued to her feet.

There was a creak.

Yang's eyes shot to the floor. Nora was standing on a rug, large enough to cover most of the floor. They shared a grin and heaved the rug aside. There was a small trapdoor in the floor. Relief flooded through Yang. _Not a failure yet._

They lifted the trapdoor and revealed a staircase, descending into darkness. There was a hint of dim light at the bottom of the stairs, though not enough to see by.

There was a loud crash from below them, followed by the sound of angry cursing.

"You _idiot_!" a voice hissed. "What if someone hears us?"

"Oh calm down," another voice replied calmly. "No one but my uncle ever goes near here, and there's no way that Huntress will find us here. She should be looking for us somewhere in _Menagerie _by now!"

Yang raised an eyebrow. _Is that right? _She glanced back at Nora—who was grinning wider than ever—and began down the stairs.

She stopped when a step squeaked under her weight, but there was no reaction from below, so she continued. She saw a closed door as she reached the bottom, with light shining through the crack at the bottom.

She straightened and walked towards the door. They had nowhere to go now; there was no need to be subtle. She lifted a foot and got ready to kick the door in, then hesitated. She lowered her leg and glanced at Nora.

With a grin, Yang stepped to the side, gesturing towards the door. "Would you do the honours?" she asked.

Nora bounced forward, swung Magnhild back and sent it thundering into the door. The door didn't smash inwards, it just broke into pieces. Nora followed the shattered pieces of wood into the room, screaming in delight, and Yang dove in after her.

There were two men in the room, both frozen in terror, facing the door. Yang recognised them both: the faces of the men she'd been hunting. One of them—Yang couldn't tell if he was the smarter one, or the dumber one—snatched a gun off the table and swung it towards her.

Yang readied herself to dodge and counterattack but, before the man could fire, Magnhild crashed into his arms, snapping them both with hideous crack. The man screamed and dropped to the floor.

The second man, following the first's lead apparently, aimed his own gun at Nora. This time Yang stepped in and slugged him across the jaw before he could fire. He dropped the gun and toppled over. Yang caught his sleeve and hoisted him up, pushing her face into his.

"Who's helping you?" she shouted into his face.

The pair had been small-time criminals in Vale: muggings, the odd petty burglary, nothing major. Then, one day, they'd murdered a couple on the street and vanished. Yang had read their criminal records, their psych profiles. Neither of these men were smart. They wouldn't know how to _begin_ to disappear the way they had; which meant someone had helped them. Someone smart, and well-funded.

"_Who are you working for?_" Yang screamed.

The man's head slumped back. Looked like her punch had knocked him out immediately. Yang often forgot how strong her punches were; she was used to fighting—or sparring—with people who had active auras.

She dropped him to the floor with a resigned sigh. Nora was standing over the other, incapacitated man, who looked like he'd just passed out from the pain of his shattered arms. _Great, _ Yang thought. _Now neither of them can talk. _

She sighed again. _Oh well, they're not going anywhere now. _She turned towards the door.

"Nora, can you watch them? I'm going to go call for extraction." Nora nodded, folded Magnhild in a launcher and stood between the two men, glancing between them every few seconds.

Yang climbed the staircase, crossed the cabin's room and stepped outside. She pulled out her scroll and open the comm channel to her airship pilot.

"This is Yang Xaio Long. We're ready for pick up."

There was a pause, and then: "Roger that, Yang. We're on our way."

"ETA?"

"Within the hour. Are you in trouble?"

"No, no. Everything's fine. We're happy to wait."

"See you soon, Yang."

The channel clicked off and Yang tucked her scroll back into its padded pouch in her belt.

Yang looked out towards the village, and the horizon beyond it. She could see the line of the horizon, the sky above it was beginning to lighten. The sun would be up soon.

With one last glance up at the stars, Yang turned and walked back inside.

Neither of the men had moved in the time Yang had been gone, and Nora had apparently gotten bored. The apparently very impatient women had swung Magnhild onto her back, handcuffed both unconscious men, and was now perusing a stack of shelves against the wall.

_Probably a good idea_, Yang realised. _There might be something on their employer in here._

She turned to another shelf and began flicking through it, searching for anything interesting. There was nothing. Most of it was related to hunting, both Grimm and animal, and anything else was entirely innocent. Yang glanced over at Nora from time to time, wondering if she'd found anything, and checked the men, though neither of them seemed to have woken up.

The sound of engines outside caught Yang's attention. Their pick-up had arrived. She and Nora picked up one of the men each and carried them outside. The sun was creeping over the horizon now, the top of yellow disk just visible, and Yang could see around her clearly.

The small airship had landed just outside the cabin, and Yang and Nora jumped in. It was a smaller airship, one used to fly around kingdoms and the surrounding areas; they had a larger, long distance airship, waiting for them just outside Atlas. They sat their prisoners against the back wall of the cabin, and grabbed hold of the rail across from them.

"Back to the ship?" the pilot shouted over the engines.

"Yeah!" Yang shouted back.

"Are we heading back to Vale straight away, Ma'am? I'll have to send a message ahead if we are; to tell the crew to refuel before we get back."

"No, not straight away! We'll head back tonight!"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Nora raised an eyebrow at Yang. "Tonight?" she asked.

Yang nodded. "Tonight. I need to make a trip into Atlas while we're here."

Nora eyed her for a few seconds. "You're going to visit Weiss, aren't you?"

Yang hesitated for a moment and then nodded. Nora's other eyebrow joined the first, then she looked away, towards the prisoners.

Yang sighed. Even Nora could tell…

This wasn't going to be a fun visit.


	3. New Developments

The sun had been rising over Atlas for an hour before it was high enough to shine into the windows of the Schnee family estate. People were beginning to fill the streets below; on their way to work, or out to run errands. Airships could be seen in the air above the city walls, flying in and around the city. Atlas was too big to be patrolled by men on foot alone. There were still men on the walls surrounding the city, but the airships' speed and ability to safely stray outside the walls made them a necessary addition.

Weiss flinched as the sun shone directly through her window and onto her face. Her eyes flickered and cracked open. Raising a hand to shield her eyes, she glanced at the clock on her bedside table and, seeing what time it was, rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

Just as she was beginning to drift into a pleasant state of half-sleep, a knock at the door dragged her back to consciousness. Weiss grumbled under her breath as she rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the door. Whoever was knocking had better have a _damn _good reason for waking her up.

They knocked again.

Weiss' upper lip twitched in irritation.

"Miss Weiss? Are you awake?" a quiet female voice asked.

Weiss sighed. _Coral, why you? _She could never bring herself to me mad at Coral; the girl always looked so… vulnerable. And Weiss really wanted to yell at someone. Why couldn't she, on _this_ day of all days, sleep in for an hour or two?

Weiss swung the door open and forced a small smile onto her face. "Good morning, Coral."

Coral smiled at Weiss. She stood half a head shorter than Weiss, with short-cut, strawberry blonde hair and pale grey eyes, and wore simple Schnee maid livery.

"I am now, Coral," Weiss sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "What's the matter?"

"There's… someone who wants to speak to you."

That piqued Weiss' interest and she perked up. "Thank you, Coral," Weiss smiled more genuinely this time. "I'll get dressed and be right there."

Coral bowed with another smile and left. Weiss watched her walk for a second, thinking. _About damn time. _She closed the door and hurried into the bathroom. After taking a hurried shower, tying a rough ponytail and dressing into a plain—for her tastes—outfit, Weiss stepped out of her chamber and hurried down the hall.

Servants bowed as she passed, and Weiss almost made a point of at least nodding back. Some of them—the ones who worked directly for her, or those she'd known since she was a child—she stopped to talk to. They all seemed grateful for her care and concern; their polite smiles widened into grins when she greeted them by name.

A few minutes later, Weiss opened the door to her office and slipped inside. It wasn't a big room; no larger than her bedroom. There was a desk with a high-backed chair behind it, and two soft chairs positioned in front of it. There was a window along the length of the left wall and smaller one behind her chair. The walls were decorated with detailed paintings and the floor was covered in a well-kept Ursa Major skin rug.

Weiss rounded her desk in a flash and thumped into her chair. She opened her scroll and placed it on a small receiver set into the desk. The screen of the scroll lit up, displaying a keyboard, and a holographic screen appeared in the air above the desk. Weiss' fingers danced across the keyboard and the screen's display blinked on.

_Welcome, Weiss._

Weiss glanced out the window as she waited the home screen to load. An airship caught her attention. It was smaller than the others and looked like it was heading towards the estate's landing pad. Weiss couldn't quite tell from where she sat but… it _looked_ like a Vale ship. Vale's and Atlas' ships had similar designs—thanks to Ozpin and Ironwood's constant collaboration—but there were slight differences.

A cheerful tone rang out from her scroll. Weiss dismissed the airship—it didn't matter—and turned back to her desk. The home screen had appeared on the hologram in front of her, and a blue light was blinking in the corner.

Weiss tapped at a few keys and the blue blip grew to engulf the entire screen, then it went black. Colour reappeared a second later and showed Weiss' caller, wearing an amused smile.

Weiss took a breath. "Neptune."

"Weiss." Neptune's grin widened almost imperceptibly before shrinking again almost instantly. Weiss noticed. "Did I wake you up?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. She'd inspected herself in the mirror before leaving her room; she didn't look _that _bad. Certainly not of her usual standard, she'd willingly admit, but she'd _thought_ this call was going to be important.

"Any news?"

Neptune snickered into his hand. Weiss gave him a bland look that brought him up short. He cleared his throat and took a breath.

"You were right." As soon as he got started, Neptune was suddenly all business. "There's definitely something going on here. I couldn't get any details—Schnee Company officials are keeping everything locked up tight—but there's definitely a surplus of Dust coming into the city."

"A _surplus_?" Weiss asked. "You're sure?"

Neptune nodded. "Coming in. I don't know where it goes after that. I managed to snatch a look at a manifest while I was snooping around. It said there was ten tonnes of Dust in the last shipment, but there was definitely at least twelve coming in."

Weiss rubbed at her eyes as she sighed. "Twelve tonnes… Gods… We usually send eight."

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "So why the sudden increase?"

"I _don't know_." Weiss spat, frustrated. "I'd thought that a sudden increase to _ten _tonnes was odd, that's why I asked you to look into it. But if there's even more than the manifests say…"

"You didn't notice the deficit on your end?"

"No. That's what bothers me most. There's no record here of any Dust going missing since…" Weiss tapped at the keyboard, and a smaller screen appeared in the corner of the display. "Two years ago. We've been secure ever since the White Fang was disbanded. Who else would rob us? Who else would be _able_ to?"

"I don't know, Weiss," Neptune said. He pursed his lips and rubbed at his chin in thought. "I don't know. I couldn't find anything here; what I _do_ know I had to work out through observation. Hell, I might still be wrong."

Weiss sighed. Even if Neptune was wrong about the extra Dust being moved, there was _definitely_ something going on. And she had to get to the bottom of it. No one else was paying it any attention. She wasn't sure if they just hadn't noticed, or if they were purposely ignoring it. And she wasn't sure which was more worrying. Was their security really that lax? Or did they have a traitor in their midst?

"Weiss?" Neptune sounded concerned.

Weiss looked up, faked a small smile and sat back. It didn't fool Neptune for a second. He sighed.

"We're going to sort this out, alright? We'll find out what's going on," he reassured her.

Weiss smiled again. It came a bit easier this time.

"It's all well and good to say that," she rebutted. "But I don't know how we're going to. I can't find _any_ evidence of missing Dust here in Atlas, and I'm sure even if I went to the warehouses, there'd be no evidence _there_ either!"

"If we don't have any evidence," Neptune said, "then we have to _get_ some. If there really is more Dust coming into Mistral, then we're more likely to find evidence for it here. Hell, if we're lucky, we'll find the Dust."

Weiss nodded silently as she pondered his words.

"If Sun was here, I'd get him to help," Neptune continued. "But I haven't heard from him in weeks. Scarlet and Sage have been off Gods know where for almost two months now…"

Weiss smiled nostalgically as Neptune talked about his old teammates. It made Weiss think of hers. Blake, the quiet but firm warrior for justice, always willing to lend anyone a helping hand, no matter the cost; Yang, the fiery thrill seeker who fought whatever fight she could get her hands on; and Ruby…

_Gods… Ruby…_

Weiss shuddered and closed her eyes as she pictured Ruby's face. Her innocent, loving smile. Her sparkling, silver eyes. The untroubled, adorable face she always wore when she slept. Her cheerful, ringing laugh.

The devastated look she'd had when Weiss had pushed her away.

The tears. The screams. The sobs.

The_ blood._

"Weiss?" Neptune called her name again and Weiss snapped out of her memories. She dashed away the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.

"You okay?" Neptune asked.

"Yeah… I just… Don't worry about it. I'm fine." Weiss gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"So what are we going to?" Neptune asked as if nothing had happened. She was grateful for the change of subject. _Back to business, Weiss._

"I at least need to get this red tape cleared," he continued. "I can't find anything out with everything locked up and out of sight."

She shook her head. "Me suddenly giving you clearance to look through shipping manifests will look more suspicious than anything we've found on _them_ so far. If someone is working within the company to accomplish this, then we can't afford to tip them off."

Neptune nodded. "So…"

"I'm coming to Mistral."

He blinked in surprise. "Oh… really? Are you sure? Won't that be suspicious as well?"

Weiss shook her head with a smile. "It shouldn't be. I can spread the story that I'm shipping out on a mission for a few weeks. I've done it before. Whenever I get bored around here, I take a job outside the city. No one will think twice about it."

Neptune smiled. "Well it'll be nice to have you around. I could certainly use the help. I'll finally get to see the big Schnee Heiress in action!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. The evil Ice Queen attacks!"

"Hey, your words, not mine." Neptune gave her an amused grin.

Weiss rolled her eyes again and decided to move the conversation along. "I'll leave Atlas tonight. I should be there within a day or so."

He nodded. "I'll meet you at the landing pad. Let me know when you're an hour out."

Weiss nodded and reached out to end the call.

"Actually, before you go!" Neptune interjected.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes?"

"Have you… uh… talked to Blake recently?"

Weiss blinked in surprise. "Blake? No, I haven't. Not for a couple of weeks. Why?"

He frowned, disappointed. "I was just wondering if she'd seen Sun recently. He up and left with no warning, and I still haven't heard from him; I'm starting to get a little worried."

Weiss smiled. "I'll call her later on today, before I go, and ask her for you."

Neptune smiled in gratitude. "Thanks, Weiss. Talk to you later."

She nodded and ended the call. The screen blinked off for a second before returning to the home screen.

Weiss slumped back in her chair and started to think. What was she going to do? She had to go to Mistral, that much was obvious. But what could she and Neptune do once she got there? They didn't have anywhere to start, they had no leads, and they weren't even a hundred percent sure that anything was wrong in the first place. Weiss was convinced something _was_ but, logically, she had to admit she was acting mostly on intuition.

She sighed and tapped a key on her scroll. She waited for a few seconds in silence, waiting for the call to go through. There was a small beep to let her know the call had been answered, and Coral's voice came through the speaker.

"Miss Weiss?"

"Coral," Weiss said, "can you pack a small suitcase for me? Combat clothes and… one formal outfit."

"Yes, Miss Weiss," Coral answered. Weiss swore she could hear her bowing. "Miss Weiss?"

"Yes, Coral?"

"Are you going on another mission?"

"Yes, Coral. I shouldn't be gone for any longer than two weeks, so a small case will do. Can you make sure all my Dust pouches are refilled as well?"

"Yes, Miss Weiss. Should I tell your father you're leaving?"

Weiss grimaced. "Wait at least until after I've gone, and then only if he asks you."

"Yes, Miss Weiss. I'll see to it at once."

"I'll be leaving tonight," Weiss said. "There's no rush just yet."

"I'll see to it at once, Ma'am." Her voice sounded a little firmer.

Weiss smiled. "Thank you, Coral." Then she ended the call. She sat back with a smirk and giggled quietly. It was the only time Coral ever showed any sign of a backbone: whenever Weiss suggested she take a rest, or take her time. The girl was quiet and shy, but she was loyal and devoted to her duties. Weiss was always grateful to have her around.

A ringing rang out of her scroll. Weiss looked at the screen and frowned slightly when she saw Coral's name. _Why would she be calling back so soon?_ She answered the call, curious.

"Coral? What's the matter?"

"Uh… You have a… visitor, Miss Weiss." The girl sounded terrified. Weiss' frown deepened. Who would be visiting this early in the morning?

"Who is it?"

"Uh… I… I don't know, Ma'am. Apparently an old friend from Beacon."

_Who the hell…_

"Send them in, Coral. Thank you."

"At once, Miss Weiss."

Weiss stood up and paced her room. No one had told her they were visiting. She hadn't even _spoken_ to anyone from Beacon in weeks. She knew Blake would call later—Blake never forgot Weiss' birthday—but hadn't expected anyone to _visit_. _Maybe Pyrrha… _

Still frowning, Weiss sat back at her desk and waited. There was a knock at the door a minute later.

"Come in," Weiss called out, getting to her feet to greet her visitor.

The doorknob turned and the door swung inwards. Weiss' eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling when she saw who walked in.

"Hey, Weiss."

"Yang… Hi."

They stood in silence, just looking at each other. Yang was wearing a small smile, while Weiss just gaped. She snapped herself out of her shock and smiled.

"It's good to see you, Yang." Weiss said, genuinely meaning it. She'd spent four years with Yang, and hadn't seen her for a year. She hadn't realised it until now, but Weiss had missed _all_ her teammates terribly.

"What're you doing here?" Weiss continued. "Oh! Sorry! Sit down, sit down." Yang smiled and sat in a chair in front of Weiss' desk while Weiss sat behind it.

"Sorry, I was just… surprised to see you," Weiss stammered. "How are you? How's Blake?"

Yang smiled. "I'm good; Blake as well. She'd be here too, no doubt, but she was busy back home. Lots of students to deal with, lots to do—you remember how _we_ were at Beacon. It keeps her on her toes."

"That's great," Weiss said with a smile. "So what's going on? What're you doing in Atlas?

Golden hair shimmered in the light as Yang shrugged. "I was in the area, on a job. Thought I'd stop by and say hello."

Weiss laughed. "Sure you were. A job? Around _here_? What job could bring you near Atlas?"

Yang shrugged again. "I was chasing down some small-time thugs from Vale. They apparently got well-funded and smart all of a sudden, killed some innocent people and bolted."

Weiss frowned. "Killed people? We got a report a little while ago that two employees at the Vale branch of the company had been murdered."

Yang nodded. "That was them. They both worked for the Schnee Dust Company, but there was no apparent motive behind the killings. They were… random."

Lines formed on Weiss forehead as her frown deepened.. "So you caught them?"

"Yeah, they're locked up on an airship, ready to go back to Vale."

"Good," Weiss nodded. "I'd be interested to hear what they have to say."

"Me too," Yang said, cracking her knuckles menacingly. "Believe me."

Weiss smiled. Yang hadn't changed at all.

"So anyway," Yang said. "How about you?"

Weiss waved a hand dismissively. "Oh nothing much. Helping around the company, going on jobs. Nothing that exciting."

"Jobs, huh?" Yang asked.

Weiss nodded.

"Alone?"

Weiss' heart sank. _I should've known… _"Sometimes," Weiss said, trying to sound as calm as possible. "Neptune visits from time to time. Pyrrha sometimes stops by with Jaune. But… Yes. Mostly alone." She couldn't stop the hint of regret that slipped into her voice.

Yang nodded, all traces of a smile gone.

"You didn't come to wish me a happy birthday, did you, Yang?" Weiss asked.

Yang hesitated, then shook her head. "I honestly didn't know it was today."

Weiss nodded and sighed. "So what did you come to talk about?"

"Do I really need to say it?"

Weiss felt her heart creeping up into her throat. She'd been dreading this conversation for over a year now.

"Ruby," Weiss said. Her voice broke slightly. Yang didn't seem to notice.

"Ruby," Yang agreed. She met Weiss' eyes, locking Weiss in place with the force of her gaze.

Weiss swallowed. "What's there to talk about?"

Yang raised an eyebrow. "You know, Weiss, I'm trying to stay as calm about this as I can. I told you a long time ago that if you ever hurt her, I'd hurt you, but out of respect for the years we spent together, I'm doing my best here to avoid that. I'd like to think of you as a friend Weiss, I really would. After all we've been through, I could even say I love you—in an almost sisterly way. So I'm doing all I can to stay calm, but—as you're my friend—I think it's only fair to warn you: don't push me."

Anger swelled in Weiss' chest. _Who does she think she is? Coming into _my_ house and threatening _me_? _She opened her mouth to say something sharp and cutting, but her inner guilt stopped her.

_She's right though,_ the guilty voice said. _You _did_ hurt Ruby. She's not in the wrong here. Just see what she has to say._

_Screw that!_ the anger seemed to shout. _She's threatening you in your own damn house! Let her know who's boss._

Yang watched in silence throughout Weiss' internal conflict. After a few seconds of inner debate, Weiss opened her mouth again.

"What do you want, Yang?"

Yang eyed her for a moment, then nodded. "I want an explanation. Not whatever load of crap you fed Ruby to make her feel better. I want to know why you broke my baby sister's heart."

Weiss seized up. Her arms and legs stiffened. Her fingers squeezed the arms of her chair so hard her knuckles turned white.

She didn't even know where to start. What could she say that would make sense? What could she say that wouldn't sound… cruel? _Nothing,_ the guilty voice whispered. _It _was_ cruel, you know that._

"I…" Weiss hesitated. "There's nothing I can say that will make it better, Yang. I just… I couldn't deal with it."

Yang's voice was almost a whisper. "Deal with what?"

Weiss felt guilty—_horrible_—just thinking about it, but she forced herself to choke out the words. "I couldn't deal with Ruby. She was… is… childish."

Yang's voice was ice cold. "You broke her heart because she was _'childish'_?"

Weiss shook her head. "It's not that simple… I just… She became very… dependant on me. And there's nothing wrong with that!" she added quickly as Yang's eyebrows furrowed in anger. "But… she was meant to be our leader. She's meant to be _a_ leader, even you know that."

Yang nodded, though she seemed a little uncertain.

"Exactly," Weiss continued. "I just… She needed to be… more. She needs to be able to stand on her own two feet, and not depend on me. She's the kind of person that other people need to depend on and I was afraid that, if I stayed with her, she'd never be able to become that. You saw how overly dependent she was on me; it wasn't going to help her become who she needed to be—who we both know she _wanted_ to be."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "So you did it for her?"

Weiss hesitated. _Did I? Really? _She shook her head. "Not entirely. I felt like… I felt like I was holding her back. We all saw how she progressed over the years. We all saw the potential she had. All I ever saw was what she could be if she wasn't using me as a crutch. I didn't want to be the thing that kept her from that. I couldn't stand living everyday thinking I was holding her back. So… guilt, I guess. And insecurity. I couldn't handle the pressure of being her… whatever I was."

Yang looked at her feet in silence, thinking. Weiss sat back and waited, looking out the window. They sat in silence for what felt like an hour.

"It didn't work," Yang finally whispered.

Weiss' head snapped around, meeting Yang's suddenly tearful gaze. "W-what?"

"I don't know what you thought would happen if you left," Yang said. "But it didn't work."

"What do you mean?"

"She's miserable, Weiss. She's absolutely miserable. I've never seen her so miserable for so long. Ever since the day you left, she hasn't gotten any better. She stares off into the distance all the time, randomly starts crying. She goes out on missions for the _distraction_. She throws herself headlong into danger, knowing that a fight for her life will get _you_ out of her head for a few minutes."

Weiss went limp.

Yang just shook her head. "I don't even know what to do. I don't know if anything can make it any better now."

Weiss met Yang's eyes. "I'll come back," she whispered. As guilt-ridden and miserable as Weiss felt knowing the state Ruby was in, a part of her was happy for it: it meant she could go back—and that feeling of happiness made her feel even more guilty.

Yang shook her head. "I don't know what that would do to her. With the state she's in, it might just make things worse."

"Yang, I'll come back!" Weiss got to her feet as her voice rose.

Yang just looked up at her, emotionless. Then she nodded. "Well, if you do, don't make it sudden. She doesn't need anything to rock the boat too hard at the moment. Ease your way back in."

Weiss nodded. It made sense. She slumped back into her seat with a sigh. She couldn't even begin to tell what she was feeling. Misery, relief, love, joy, guilt… All of it blended into a big… mess.

Yang stood. "I'd better go. I've got to get these guys back to Vale."

Weiss nodded. "Yang!" she called out as Yang turned to leave. "How… How did I do?"

Yang met her eyes and hesitated. Then she gave Weiss a small smile. "I'll let it slide this time. See you around, Snow Angel."

Weiss smiled back, and Yang left.

Weiss looked down and reached towards her throat. She grabbed the delicate chain that hung around her neck and pulled it out of her shirt. Dangling gently on the chain was a silver rose; Ruby's symbol. Weiss looked at it, as she often did, and thought of Ruby. Remembered the smile on her face, and the touch of her lips…

Weiss' head was spinning. She hadn't had a birthday this eventful… ever. She'd resigned herself to being hated by Yang, and probably Ruby, forever and yet… Now she had hope. Maybe she could go back to Vale. Maybe she and Ruby could…

_After this business in Mistral is dealt with._

Weiss nodded. She couldn't afford to get side-tracked yet. As glad as she was for the chance to be with Ruby again, Weiss knew she still had a job to do. Neptune was waiting in Mistral, and he needed her help to solve this mystery. Yang had told Weiss to ease her way back; she could do that from Mistral.

_Maybe I'll call Ruby later tonight… See how she's doing…_

Weiss kissed the silver rose and tucked it back under her shirt, then got out of her seat and left the office. She walked through the corridors of the Schnee Estate, towards her bedroom, greeting servants along the way. Coral was probably done with the bag by now; Weiss was ready to leave.


	4. Coincidences

It was past noon by the time Blake made it to her office. Sleep had not come easily the night before; a feeling of unease had kept her awake until almost dawn. She couldn't say what it was that had made her so restless, just that she had a sense of on-coming danger—an approaching threat—even now.

The door slid open as Blake held her scroll in front of the scanner and she stepped into her cool, air-conditioned office. It was simple. A desk at the back, a chair on each side of it, and a small lounge against the left wall. There was a window on the wall to the right that looked out over the grounds of Beacon Academy.

Blake stood at the window for a minute, looking out. There were students milling about, back and forth, across the courtyard directly below, on their way to and from classes or on their lunch break. Blake smiled. There was something about watching everything work smoothly and peacefully that always set her mind at ease.

She could see a hint of her reflection in the tinted glass, and couldn't resist the urge to inspect herself. There were a hint of bags under her golden, almost feline eyes from her lack of sleep the night before. Her hair hung down to the middle of her back haphazardly; she hadn't taken the time to brush it out that morning. The only thing that really looked normal were her clothes: plain white blouse, short cut black jacket and black pants.

She turned away with a sigh and scratched at one of her feline ears. She'd gotten rid of the bow over a year ago, after graduation, but sometimes it still felt strange to have them out in the open; she'd grown so used to hiding who she was that it was uncomfortable at times to be so open about her heritage.

Blake sat at her desk and put her scroll down. A holographic screen blinked on in the air in front of her, and Blake tapped in her password. She sat back with a sigh as the home screen appeared. She looked around the room for any notes for her, but found none.

Her assistant, Kelly, was always here in the morning, waiting for Blake. She would give Blake a schedule for the day, let her know what she had to do, or who she had to see, but there was nothing today. Not that Blake could blame Kelly for that, she had come in _hours_ late.

_Oh well, _Blake focussed on the screen in front of her. _She'll come back eventually. _

Blake tapped a key and her list of contact popped open. She scrolled down until she found Weiss' name and hit the selection key. The screen went blank as the call went through. Blake scratched behind her ear as she waited.

There was a beep and Weiss' face appeared on the screen. Blake smiled; it had been a while since she and Weiss had talked.

"Happy birthday, Weiss," Blake said.

Weiss smiled. "Thank you, Blake. How are you?"

"I'm good. A little tired, couldn't sleep last night. But, other than that, I'm good."

The heiress frowned slightly. "Is everything okay?"

Blake waved her concern away. "Yeah, I'm fine. I don't know what happened. Just a restless night, I guess."

Weiss nodded, then smirked. "Looking forward to having Yang back?"

An affectionate smile grew beneath golden eyes at the mention of Yang's name. "I guess so… Wait… How did you know Yang wasn't here?"

Weiss laughed. "She came to visit me this morning—"

"_Yang_ did? _My_ Yang?"

"Yes, _your _Yang. Unless there's another Yang we both know who looks exactly like yours."

"Why would she do that?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I'm glad that an old friend coming to visit me is cause for such surprise. What do people think of me in Vale?"

Blake blushed. "I didn't mean it like that, Weiss. I was just surprised that's all. Yang didn't mention that she was going to see you, and I can't imagine she'd just stop by Atlas for a social call."

Weiss sighed. "Well… No. She didn't. She wanted to talk about Ruby."

"And how'd _that_ go?"

Weiss shrugged. "Better than expected. Nothing got broken, which is good, and no one died, which is better."

The Faunus raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? That doesn't sound like Yang. Are you sure there isn't another Yang we both know who looks exactly like mine?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. Very funny."

Blake smiled. "I thought so. So what did you two talk about?"

"Like I said, she wanted to talk about Ruby, and why I… left."

"And what did you say?"

"I told her the truth. It sounded just as weak as when I told you… Just as selfish. But she seemed content with the explanation."

Blake nodded. Weiss had told her why she'd left long ago, though Blake had been sworn to secrecy. For a year, Blake had known, and refrained from judgement. She'd felt like she needed to be there for Weiss; Yang was _always_ going to side with Ruby. She had felt that Weiss' reasons for leaving were somewhat less than ideal, but she also knew—intimately—how emotions messed with people's heads; logic was rarely allowed a foot in the door—let along a say in proceedings—when it came to relationships.

"What did she say to you?" Blake asked.

Weiss gave her a sad, lop-sided smile. "She told me about Ruby…"

Blake sighed.

"How is she, Blake? Yang made it sound bad but…"

"She probably didn't exaggerate. It's… It's bad, Weiss."

Weiss nodded, sadness and guilt etched across her face.

"She never quite bounced back," Blake continued. "I mean, she got a little better after a few months, but she never quite got her… exuberance back. She _never_ talks about you, refuses to talk about any of our time at Beacon. Whenever anyone mentions you, or anything we did over the years, she either stares out the window, or at her pendant, until she starts crying, or just leaves the room."

Weiss looked down. Blake thought she could see tears brimming her friend's eyes and stopped. After a few seconds of silence, Weiss looked back up.

"I'm fine. Keep going."

Blake hesitated, and then nodded. "She takes missions almost every day. Anything. She'll take the most mundane extermination jobs—clearing Grimm out of Mountain Glenn or any of the surrounding villages, keeping the Grimm population of the forests low enough for students to go on training missions, anything at all—like she's just throwing herself into danger to avoid thinking about anything. Like whenever she has a moment to think, she always comes back to you. She's been doing it ever since you left, and I think she just can't deal with it any other way."

Weiss nodded again and her face suddenly disappeared from the screen before jolting back in. In the background, Blake thought she could hear the high-pitched whine of a airship engine.

"Where are you?" she asked. "Are you in an airship?"

Weiss looked at something off the screen for a moment before replying. "Yeah, I uh… I'm on my way to Mistral."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Mistral? Why?"

Weiss hesitated, then spoke in a hushed voice. "There's something going on in the company. Dust going missing, or so we think."

"We?"

"Neptune and I. He did some digging around for me when I saw some numbers in our shipping logs that made me a little suspicious."

"Is it serious?"

"We don't know. We don't know _anything_ yet. But we're going to find out." Weiss' sadness seemed to fade as she explained what she'd found, which relieved Blake. As bad as the new developments sounded, at least it was keeping Weiss from mulling over Ruby all the time.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Blake asked.

Weiss shook her head. "Neptune and I can take care of it. Although, you should probably keep an ear to the ground there. I didn't see anything suspicious on our logs for Vale, but you never know. If someone's up to no good in Mistral, there's a chance it might be in other kingdoms again."

Blake nodded. "I'll keep an eye out. I'll let you know if anything comes up."

Weiss nodded. "I'll keep you posted on the situation in Mistral as well. Actually, before I forget, Neptune told me to ask: have you heard from Sun recently?"

Blake shook her head, confused. "Sun? No. Not for a few weeks, maybe a month or so. Why?"

Weiss frowned. "Neptune said Sun up and left Mistral without a word to anyone and no one's heard from him since."

"That's odd…"

Weiss shrugged. "Sun can take care of himself. I'm sure he's alright, but maybe you could try and contact him? Just to make sure."

Blake nodded. "Yeah, definitely. I'll give him a call today; see if I can get in touch with him."

Weiss seemed to hesitate before opening her mouth. "Just… one more thing, before I go. Yang… suggested that me coming back to Vale might be… beneficial, but that I should do it gradually."

Blake nodded, but said nothing. Weiss clearly had something she was trying to get out, and the Faunus was smart enough to not interrupt.

"So, I was wondering… do you think it would alright if I called Ruby later today?"

Blake smiled. "I think she'd love that, Weiss."

Weiss' relieved smile was the most joyous look Blake had seen on her friend's face in over a year.

"I agree with Yang though," she continued. "It might be best to come back gradually. Ruby will probably want you to come straight back, but I feel like you two have some issues to sort out before you move back into her life completely."

Weiss nodded, still smiling. "That's fine. As long as I have a chance."

Blake smiled, feeling a little moved. She could see the love Weiss had for Ruby painted on her face, could hear it in her voice. A year apart had done nothing to dull the feelings they both had for each other. Something about seeing that resonated with Blake. They loved each other just as much as she and Yang did. The thought of Yang sent Blake's heart fluttering.

"Well, I'd better go," Weiss said. "I've got to… do some work before I get to Mistral."

Blake smiled. "Yeah, I've got some work to get to as well. I'll talk to you later? Let me know how things go with Ruby?"

Weiss smiled again. "Sure. I'll talk to you then."

"Good luck, Weiss"

Weiss nodded, still grinning, and ended the call. The screen flicked to black for a moment before the home screen reappeared on the screen.

Blake slumped back in her chair with a sigh and a grin. It was about time Weiss realised that she needed to come back. Both her and Ruby had been miserable ever since she'd left, but Weiss was so caught up in her rationalisations for leaving that she'd forced herself to stay as far from Ruby as she could get.

Blake shook her head with a quiet chuckle and tapped a few keys, bringing up her messages. She scrolled through for a second before stopping on one; the name of the sender stood out. _Violet Tanner. _Blake had talked to the girl before, but it seemed like she was still having problems. Violet was a cat Faunus, like Blake, and—even though Blake knew it was against the rules—she'd taken an extra liking to the girl.

Blake had thought about teaching at Beacon after graduation—Doctor Oobleck had recommended her for it, in fact—but the pressure of having people's education in her hands, the pressure of her teaching being something could save their lives one day, hadn't appealed to her. She'd wanted to be a teacher to help represent the Faunus in the Beacon faculty. Though she didn't blame any of the staff for the deficit, there were definitely less Faunus professors than human ones.

So, while Blake had decided to not be a teacher, she'd done the next best thing. She'd been hired on as a Faunus student councillor. She was there to be a voice of authority for Faunus students who felt insecure, threatened or intimidated while at Beacon. Her job was to give students a sympathetic ear, help resolve issues that were making life harder for the Faunus student body and, on occasion, she took groups of Faunus students out on training missions to let them spend time to meet and make friends with other Faunus—so they knew they weren't going through troubles alone.

Violet had been a recurring case for Blake over the last semester. Students in her class were repeatedly making her uncomfortable, making life generally harder for her. There had even been a case where she'd been put into danger on an excursion to Forever Fall because of their bullying. Blake was starting to get to the point where she'd have to crack down on the perpetrators, just to keep her safe. She knew that using her authority to force them to stop bullying her wouldn't solve the problem—they were teenagers after all—but Violet's safety had to come first.

Blake typed out a reply to Violet's message, telling her to stop by after she'd finished her classes for the day. They needed to sort something out. Whether they moved Violet to different streams for her classes, or… whatever; _something_ had to be done.

Just as Blake sent the message, as if on cue, the door to her office opened. Blake looked up, expecting Kelly to walk through the door, but was surprised to see Ruby instead.

Her surprise quickly changed to horror when she saw Ruby's face. She had a black eye, what looked like a broken nose and massive, purple bruises around her neck. Blake shot out of her chair in a heartbeat and ran towards Ruby.

"Gods! Ruby, what the hell happened to you? Are you okay?"

Ruby shrugged Blake's hand off her shoulder. "I'm fine, Blake, really. I went to the infirmary this morning, they said I should be fine in a week or so." Her voice sounded rough, like she was recovering from having lost it.

"What _happened_?"

"I…" Ruby hesitated and scratched her head. "It's kind of blurry. But I remember I saw someone getting chased by police last night. He got away from them, so I jumped in and tried to arrest him."

"And he did _this_!? Who was he?"

Ruby shrugged. "Dunno. Wasn't anyone I'd met before. I can't really remember what he looked like either. He must've really done a number on me…"

Blake blinked a few times, still shocked at Ruby's appearance. "I'll say. You look like hell, Sis."

Ruby smirked and rolled her eyes. "You've been spending too much time around Yang. I'm fine, really. Feel fit as a fiddle."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"_Yes!_ I'm fine, trust me."

The Faunus hesitated, then nodded. "Okay… Well, just make sure you get treated."

"I already _have_."

"Well go back in a few days. Yang will have my head if she finds out I let you get this beat up while she was away."

The bruised and battered woman laughed, an odd sound coming from her. "You'll have to do more than that to get Yang mad at you, you know that."

Blake smiled. "Yeah, I guess. Well, she won't be happy."

"Do you know when she's getting back?"

The concerned Faunus shrugged. "Probably later today, maybe tomorrow. So I'm screwed either way; no time for you to heal up."

Ruby smirked. "I'm sure you'll be fine. I feel for sorry for the guy who did it. When Yang gets her hands on him…"

"So I take it he got away?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow and pointed at her face. "What gave that away?"

Blake couldn't help but chuckle. "Good point. So do you remember anything about him? Anything we could use to track him down?"

Ruby shook her head. "Not really. It was dark, raining, I couldn't see him well to begin with. And everything's just… a mess. I can't remember many details. I'd probably recognise him if I saw him though."

Blake nodded. "Well let me know if you remember anything. I'll put a notice on the board."

Ruby nodded and looked out the window for a few seconds.

"So were you looking for anything?" Blake continued. "Or did you just stop by to see me?"

Ruby smiled. "As much as I enjoy your company, I did want to ask you something."

"Fire away."

"Have you seen Jaune around? I can't find him, and he's not answering any of my calls."

Blake frowned. "He's been out on a mission with Pyrrha for the last week or so. He didn't tell you he was leaving?"

Ruby shook her head.

"That's odd," Blake said with a frown. "Why did you want him? Going out on another mission?"

Ruby nodded. "I thought me might want to tag along…"

"Well Nora's gone with Yang, but Ren's still here. I'm busy this afternoon but, if you feel like waiting until tomorrow, I can go along with you then."

Ruby shook her head. "That's alright. I'll go and ask Ren; thanks though."

Blake nodded and watched as Ruby left without another word. She sighed and sat back at her desk. Ruby's façade was always a little painful to see. She smiled and joked and laughed, but all the while, Blake could see the pain hidden away. Ruby probably didn't know she was letting any of it out, but it was there.

She really did need Weiss back. Anything to help her break out of that shell she'd been building up over the year.

_Oh crap_, Blake thought. Weiss was going to call Ruby tonight… and Ruby looked like she'd just been beaten half to death. What was Weiss going to think? _Maybe I should call Weiss back and warn her... _

There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Blake called.

Kelly peeked her head into the room. Her light brown hair, with streak of green, framed her face, and her brown eyes were filled with a concerned wariness.

"Kelly! Good! You're back," Blake said with a smile.

Kelly smiled nervously. "Uh, Miss Belladonna, you have a visitor."

Blake raised an eyebrow. She didn't have anything scheduled. Who would be visiting her unannounced like this?

She waved a hand. "Let them in."

Kelly nodded and pushed the door the rest of the way open, letting the visitor in.

All thoughts of Weiss and Ruby were wiped from Blake's mind when she saw the man who entered the room. He was the single most impressive, yet intimidating man she'd ever seen. He was huge, taller than even Jaune, and covered in hulking, rippling muscle. He had shoulder length red hair and bright blue eyes, wore what looked like a large black shield strapped to his back and, perhaps his strangest quality, he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Blake Belladonna?" he asked. His voice was rough, harsh.

"That's me," Blake answered. "How can I help you?"

"Nice to finally meet you," the man said with a smile. "My name is Raud Geisa; I'm from Vacuo. I've come to speak to you about a…" He glanced at Kelly. "…sensitive matter."

Blake raised an eyebrow and nodded to Kelly, signalling that she should step outside. Raud watched her leave, and only once she was gone did he face Blake again.

"May I sit down?" he asked, pointing at the chair in front of her desk.

"Please," Blake replied. She switched off the holographic screen so they could see each other clearly across the desk.

Raud swung his shield off his back and leant it against the chair as he sat down. "My thanks."

"So what is this 'sensitive matter'?" Blake asked.

Raud took a breath and glanced around the room again before starting. "There are a group of officials in the government of Vacuo who have sent me here to both seek aid and lend it. They also send a warning: someone is smuggling Dust out of Vacuo, and we don't know who or why."

Blake perked up. Could this be related to what Weiss had told her about?

"We know very little, as a matter of fact," Raud continued. "They've covered their tracks incredibly well, which has led my… employers to believe that it's part of a conspiracy within the government. My employers are a small group of loyal officials and politicians, as well as trusted Huntsmen and Huntresses, who are seeking to get to the bottom of it and stop it. We don't know what these supposed conspirators are planning, but we know it can't be any good."

"You said Dust was being smuggled _out_ of Vacuo?" Blake asked.

Raud nodded. "That's right. That's why I'm here. They were afraid the Dust was being moved overland to Vale. They've found no evidence that would suggest that, so we might be chasing a red herring, but they sent me here to warn you just in case, and to lend any aid I can, should you need it."

Blake rubbed at her chin as she thought. It sounded too similar to what Weiss had mentioned; it couldn't be a coincidence. Speaking of coincidences…

"Why are you telling me this?" Blake asked. "If you're afraid something similar is happening here, how do you know I'm not part of the conspiracy?" She couldn't believe that someone would just _happen_ to tell her about another conspiracy not half an hour after hearing about one in Mistral.

Raud smiled. "I was given your name by a friend of yours, Sun Wukong." Blake raised an eyebrow. "I've spoken to no one else since I got here, and I'm not trusting anyone until I get your word that they're trustworthy."

"Sun sent you?" Blake asked.

Raud shrugged. "Not him specifically, but he's helping my employers investigate."

"Right…"

"You don't trust me?" Raud asked.

Blake shook her head. "I'm a little sceptical. I haven't heard from Sun in weeks; I find it strange that he'd send you without letting me know."

"Last I saw him, he was busy with his investigation. Maybe he didn't want to risk contacting anyone in case it got intercepted; we don't know who may be involved in this, or what means they have at their disposal."

Blake hesitated. It made sense…

"Alright," she said with a nod. "What do you know?"

"Like I said, very little. We don't know if anything is actually happening in Vale, but we should be on the lookout. Investigate Dust shipments to and from the city, check Dust stock levels in your city's warehouse. If there's any missing, or any more than there should, it could indicate something similar happening in Vale."

Blake nodded. "It's as good a starting point as any. Who else knows you're here?"

"Just you and your assistant."

"I doubt that," Blake said. "A man walking around with no shirt on like that? People will notice."

Raud shrugged. "I'm from Vacuo."

"I can tell," Blake sighed in resignation. There was nothing they could do about it now. "Have you got a place to stay in the city?"

Raud nodded. "I've rented a room in a hotel nearby."

"Good. You should probably head back for today. Though I'd recommend you walk around the city for a few hours, to try and get your bearings, learn the scenery."

"I've already started getting the lay of the land. When do we start the investigation?"

Blake thought for a few seconds. "Tomorrow, hopefully. My… partner is on her way back to Vale as we speak, and I have another friend going out on a mission this afternoon. When they get back tomorrow, we can fill them in on it and get their help."

Raud nodded. "Having more eyes will help, though I'd advise against telling too many people. The less people who know the secret, the less likely it is to get out."

Blake agreed. "I'll be careful, don't worry."

Raud got to his feet. "I'll take my leave then."

Blake nodded. "Come back here this time tomorrow. I'll have everyone I trust enough to help us waiting here."

"Until tomorrow, Miss Belladonna," Raud said with a bow. He left the room, treading strangely quietly for a man his size.

Blake watched the door for a few seconds, running over everything that had just happened. Everything seemed to have flipped on its head today: Yang was speaking to Weiss, Weiss was coming back, and all of a sudden, all four kingdoms could be involved in a vast conspiracy to gods knew what nefarious end.

Blake's feeling of unease was returning, and she couldn't help but feel that this had been the cause of it. Nothing had happened to bring the feeling about, so Blake had been convinced it was an oncoming threat; apparently she'd been right.

Blake sighed as she pressed a key on her scroll. Kelly walked in a moment later from her office across the hall and stood in front of Blake's desk, her face a mask of curiosity.

"What have I got planned over the next week, Kelly?" Blake asked. "We're going to have to shuffle some things around. I need to clear my schedule for the next few days."


	5. Talons on the Battlefield

They attacked in the late afternoon, with the sun behind them. They charged down the hill, towards the village, a hundred voices screaming war cries and profanity. Blades flashed in the sunlight, blinding the men and women—the residents of the village—who stood on the wall. Guns fired and bullets tore into both barricades and defenders alike.

A woman went down screaming as a bullet tore through her side. She fell to the ground in convulsions. A gurgling sound came out of her mouth; the bullet had hit her lung, and she was drowning in her own blood. Her face didn't show fear, only regret—regret that she'd died before the battle had truly begun. People ran to the wall to carry her away, but she would be dead well before they made it to the doctor.

A man watched as the woman was dragged away and whimpered as he squeezed rifle he held to his chest. He wanted to go to her, but knew he couldn't afford to leave the wall.

Another man shivered in fear as he watched the attackers approach. A small, yellow puddle was forming at his feet. For a moment he looked like he was about to run, but something seemed to harden his resolve and keep him in place.

A woman, seeing the men who'd killed her husband charging towards her, grinned. She looked bloodthirsty, eager for violence, pining for revenge.

A man fumbled and dropped a magazine as he tried to load his rifle.

A boy, no older than fourteen, dropped a pile of arrows into the dirt below.

A bow string snapped.

Steel sang as a blade cleared its sheath.

Defenders roared at the attackers, egging them on.

Some fired back, against orders, too eager for battle to care.

Jaune noticed all of this in an instant. The sword that sang was his; it left its sheath with a deadly hum. He peeked over the wall and waited. The attackers were coming faster than he'd expected. He'd never quite managed to remember how Faunus were different to humans; he remembered the night vision, but not much else.

He took a breath and hoisted his sword high. That was the signal. There was a loud cry from behind him and the sound of snapping rope. Large sacks were hurled over the wall, into the middle of the approaching attackers. The sacks hit the ground and exploded. The attackers unfortunate enough to be within range were engulfed in flames.

Jaune grimaced as he heard the first of the screams. He gripped his sword tighter; there was no turning back now. He raised his sword again and roared.

The defenders who were armed with firearms peeked over the wall as one and fired a volley of shots into the still-charging attackers. Men who stood below the walkway that ran around the wall fired a volley of arrows over the wall—there hadn't been enough guns to go around.

A man atop the wall screamed as a bullet pierced his neck. He dropped the rifle at his feet as he tumbled over the wall and landed on the outside. He didn't move.

Jaune roared for someone to pick up the fallen weapon and glanced over the wall again. The attackers started lobbing crystals as they charged. The Dust exploded on the face of the wall, sending bursts of flame over the parapets. There was a crew of Faunus approaching, further back in the enemy forces, carrying a large, metal container

_Time to go,_ Jaune thought. He signalled the retreat and waited until all his troops had reached the ground before following; he didn't want any of them to be on the wall when that container blew.

Jaune hit the ground running. He ran twenty metres back from the wall, screaming for everyone to get behind him. They formed a phalanx on either side of Jaune. All the defenders with swords or makeshift spears stood at the front of the line, and those with firearms or bows stood behind.

Jaune hefted his shield and knelt down, so that most of his body was covered. He forced himself to breathe slowly. People around him were panting frantically, beginning to panic—or give in to adrenaline. Jaune did his best to slow his heart rate; he needed to be thinking as clearly as he could.

People came from behind the phalanx and passed thick, wooden shields to those in the front line. They were too heavy to run around with, so they'd hold the line until they were ready to charge against the attackers, then drop the shields as they attacked.

They stood in an agonizing silence, waiting for the inevitable. There was no noise from the other side of the wall, which made it even worse.

Then the world trembled. A section of the wall, ten metres long, was suddenly blasted into the air. Jaune angled his shield so it covered his head as well and tightened his grip on the handle. Rocks and shrapnel pelted off it, pinging loudly to either side of him.

Then the bullets struck. Jaune's knees almost buckled from the sudden force as they hit his shield, but he held. He took a step forward, pushing against the almost constant force of pounding bullets. People around him screamed and went down. A second after the enemy opened fire, Jaune's troops sent their own bullets into the line of Faunus in front of them.

Jaune pushed forward slowly, and his front line followed. They edged towards the enemy, waiting for a lull in their fire. If they were smart, they'd have two teams of riflemen—one to fire while the other reloaded—but Jaune was hoping they weren't that smart.

The longer the bullets struck his shield, the more that hope died. He felt a bullet hit his foot and winced. His aura stopped the bullet from piercing him, but he'd have a bruise at least—maybe a fracture. He peeked around his shield; they were less than ten metres from the enemy line now, and enemy soldiers were approaching with their own swords bared.

Jaune grinned. _Bad mistake. _The best hope they had was to keep Jaune's troops pinned with gunfire until they could flank their line. Engaging them in close-quarters combat? They wanted to fight _Jaune_ with swords? _Well I won't stop them_, he thought with a small chuckle.

His smile died as the man to his right went down, a bullet tearing into his calf. Jaune grimaced and gritted his teeth in anger. _Time to finish this. _

Jaune threw himself forward and swung his shield forward. He felt a jolt as it slammed into an enemy's face, then brought it to his side—out of the way of his sword—and cut the man down. Jaune stepped over the body and raised his shield as another man lunged at him. He angled the shield upwards and pushed as the sword struck it. The attacker reeled backwards as his sword was suddenly pushed back over his shoulder, leaving his side exposed. Jaune made the most of the vulnerability, and the man fell in a silent heap on the ground.

The defending troops rushed forward, following Jaune's lead. They pushed the first wave of attackers back, and gave Jaune some breathing room. He glanced around, surveying the situation quickly.

There looked to be around seventy attackers left, and only around thirty defenders. _Not good._ They'd been outnumbered to begin with, and their early casualties had only widened the gap. He needed to do something, fast.

Jaune threw himself forward and threw his shield in the way of a sword blow that would have killed a woman who stood to Jaune's right. She nodded in gratitude as Jaune shoved the attacker—a Faunus with the yellow eyes of a wolf—back a few paces.

"Get back into the village," Jaune yelled to her over the din of battle. "Tell them to send up the flares, _now_!"

The woman nodded and fled.

_That's all I can do for now,_ Jaune thought grimly as he swung at the wolf Faunus. _Now all we can do is wait._

The wolf Faunus ducked the swing and lunged for Jaune's right side, but Jaune managed to bring his shield across in time. He was unbalanced now, his sword in the air and his shield held across his body, so Jaune spun to his right while stepping to the left. He swung the shield around as he spun and slammed it into the Faunus' side, sending him sprawling. Jaune slashed down with his sword, severing the man's hamstring, and sent a fist crashing into his temple. The man went limp.

Jaune heard a high-pitched whine and glanced upwards. Two bright red flares were hanging in the air over the village. A good sign.

Jaune caught an oncoming blow at the last second and dragged his attention back to the battle. There was nothing else he could do for the moment.

The battle raged on. Jaune gradually brought his troops back towards the village. He had a small team lobbing Burn Dust crystals into the enemy's lines, which caused enough of a distraction to give them room to breathe as they pulled back. He wasn't sure if it would kill any of them, though he saw a few go down from well-aimed throws, but it certainly caused havoc in their lines.

They crossed a small trench, lined with pikes, and turned to face the enemy. The attackers were more cautious now. They knew they had Jaune on the back foot; they had all the time in the world. They could see their number advantage, and knew it was only a matter of time before the remaining defenders tired.

Jaune looked over the wall as a green flare went up, behind the enemy lines. He grinned and called for more Dust crystals to be lobbed over; the enemy needed to be distracted. As the Dust exploded around them, the attackers formed ranks and opened fire on Jaune's line. The Dust throwers ducked behind the line of shields.

Half a minute later, there was a loud cry from the enemy ranks, and the Faunus turned to face their rear. Jaune grinned as confusion spread through the enemy. He ordered the last of their Dust to be thrown at once—for as big an explosion as possible—and gave the order for the rest of his makeshift army to charge.

They hit the enemy while most of them had their backs turned; only the front line was still facing Jaune. They smashed into the line in a spearhead formation, forced a gap open and charged in. Jaune led the way, cutting at anything that moved in front of him. The enemy floundered, still in a state of confusion. Those who managed to realise that Jaune was in their midst were instantly cut down.

Jaune reached the middle of the enemy's group and saw their reinforcements for the first time. He knew they were coming, the green flare had been the signal that they were about to attack, but he was glad to finally see them. The leader of the reinforcement group smashed through the enemy ranks and reached the centre at the same time as Jaune.

Jaune couldn't help but feel relieved at the sight. The leader of the reinforcements smiled at him and blocked an oncoming sword stroke before cutting down the attacker.

"About time, Pyrrha!" Jaune yelled.

The tall, red-haired Huntress rolled her eyes. "You seemed to be handling things just fine."

Jaune grinned as he slashed a charging bull Faunus. "Good to have you here anyway!"

Pyrrha grinned wickedly. "When is it not?"

It was Jaune's turn to roll his eyes. He opened his mouth to respond, but the enemy seemed to have regained their bearings and were turning to face the pair. Humour vanished from Jaune's face. It was time to work. He and Pyrrha stood back to back, shields and swords at the ready.

The enemy attacked at once. Jaune blocked one attack with his shield and one with his aura. He heard Pyrrha grunt with effort behind him and a whole wave of attackers lurched back as their weapons were nearly torn from their grips.

Jaune and Pyrrha made the most of the distraction, lunging into the fray before they could recover. Blood soaked the ground and cries filled the air. Jaune saw glimpses of Pyrrha's red hair as she moved, a flashing blur of death. Her sword lashed out, so fast as to be almost invisible, and men fell. Jaune blocked a few attacks that came at her blind side, and cut down the attackers.

Jaune panted heavily as the fight wore on. He could see the enemy beginning to falter, fear filling their eyes, and he grinned. That seemed to put them off even more, which was rather the point. He let out a vicious war cry and threw himself into a pack of Faunus, trusting his aura to protect him.

Rather than turning to attack, the enemy broke rank and started to flee. Once one of them ran, the rest seemed to take it as a signal and chased their comrade. The more bloodthirsty of the defenders tried to chase them, but Jaune and Pyrrha held them back. Jaune watched the enemy flee—their numbers reduced to about thirty—until they disappeared back over the hill they'd attacked from.

Jaune turned to Pyrrha with a smile. She grinned back as she sheathed her sword and hung her shield on her back. Jaune collapsed his shield and sheathed his sword before hanging it at his belt. They fell into each other's arms, both panting heavily from the battle, but relieved enough to see each other that they didn't care.

"You left the signal a little late," Pyrrha said in a disapproving tone when they pulled apart.

Jaune shrugged. "We were handling it."

Pyrrha cocked an eyebrow. "Is that right?"

Jaune turned towards the battlefield, ignoring Pyrrha's pointed look. "We should see to the wounded."

"Maybe not…" Pyrrha muttered.

Jaune shot her a questioning look, but she was looking past him. He followed her gaze and saw the leader of the village approaching them with a wide grin on his face.

"Victory!" the man cried, holding his hands in the air as if crying to the heavens. "We have won the day!"

Jaune frowned.

"Not without cost," Pyrrha said in a disapproving tone. The man was standing in a field of his fallen neighbours, and didn't seem to bat an eyelid.

"Of course," he said, looking out over the battleground. "But now we are rid of these barbarians, and can return to our work."

"They didn't seem like barbarians," Jaune cut in. "They seemed very well equipped, if not as well trained."

Pyrrha nodded. "They had Burn Dust crystals and a Dust bomb. They might have been stealing Dust from you, but they could only have stolen unrefined ore. They were getting Dust from somewhere else as well."

The leader frowned. "As long as we are rid of them, I care not from whence they came, nor for whom they work."

"Well, _we_ do," Pyrrha said. "If they are part of a larger group, we need to find out who, and if they're raiding any other mining villages in the area."

"Alas," the man said. "I fear that all of our foes are either dead or fled, and we shall get no information out of them."

Jaune shook his head. "I knocked one out earlier. He should still be lying around."

The leader nodded. "Well you are welcome to him, of course. If you would excuse me, I must see to the people. There are funerals to be held, and repairs to be made to the village, before we can get back to work."

Jaune and Pyrrha watched as the man walked back to the village.

"I don't like him," Jaune said.

"I couldn't tell," Pyrrha replied with a smirk.

Jaune smiled briefly. "It just… he just seems to not care about people. What kind of leader doesn't care for those he leads?"

Pyrrha glanced at the retreating from of the man in question. "Those who are given the position, rather than earn it. Those who covet the power, rather than accept it. Power corrupts, Jaune."

"I know, I know," Jaune said. "Let me know if I ever start turning into… _that._"

Pyrrha laughed. "Of course. I'll beat you back into shape myself."

Jaune blanched. "On second thought, can we let Ren do it?"

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and planted a kiss on Jaune's cheek. "Come on, fearless leader. Let's go and find this prisoner of yours."

Jaune's good humour faded quickly as they waded through the field of the dead. Most of them were enemies, either killed by his own sword, or by his order. The others were villagers, who had died under his command. He felt the weight of all those deaths; he _always_ did. Pyrrha had told him it was a good thing for a leader: once he stopped caring, then they knew he had a problem. But that never made him feel any better about it.

They found the Faunus Jaune had knocked out within a few minutes, lying underneath the fallen corpse of a female bear Faunus. Jaune grimaced as they moved the corpse off the man and checked if he was still breathing. He seemed in surprisingly good shape for an unconscious body on a battlefield; he was still alive, which was a good start.

Jaune started searching the man's pockets. Pyrrha pulled out her scroll and stepped away, calling for their pick up. The airship that had brought them here had flown Pyrrha's troops away the night before, in preparation for the battle, and had stayed out of sight throughout the day, lest the enemy suspect they were up to something. Jaune heard the radio-filtered voice of the pilot say he'd be there within twenty minutes and sighed in relief. He wanted to go home.

There was nothing of any interest in the Faunus' pockets, but there was a small, emblazoned armband on his upper arm. It was too small to notice on the battlefield, but now that Jaune looked around, all of the enemy wore them.

It was pure white and had a black emblem: the head of an eagle, beak open, and three black slashes behind the head. Jaune narrowed his eyes at the sight. It was too similar to the emblem of the White Fang to be a coincidence—in fact, it was almost exactly the same, but coloured black rather than red, and with the head of an eagle instead of a wolf…

Jaune sighed. _The Black Talon._

The White Fang had been disbanded two years prior—their leaders had been arrested and the followers forced to stand down—but not six months later, another Faunus terrorist group had sprung out of the woodwork: the Black Talon.

Whereas the White Fang had at least given the impression of wanting to help the Faunus—they had attacked companies who used Faunus labour and fought for the equality that so many Faunus had prayed for—the Black Talon just attacked indiscriminately. They never delivered messages, never issued demands. They would simply appear in an area; attack, destroy and pillage until they were satisfied; and then leave. No one had found out what they were after, but an open bounty had been posted for any information on any members of the group.

Now they had a member of the group, alive. Jaune sat back with a sigh and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Pyrrha walked back and stood next to him. She gave Jaune a questioning look, and he pointed at the armband.

She frowned, glanced around, and, after confirming that the other corpses wore the same band, knelt down beside Jaune.

"We need to take him back with us," she muttered.

Jaune nodded. "We can't let any information he has slip away. We don't know _anything_ about the Talon, let alone why they were attacking the village."

Pyrrha got to her feet and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. She cuffed the unconscious man's hand behind his back and picked him up.

"Come on," she said. "The airship is going to pick us up outside the village."

Jaune glanced at the village. People were crying, sobbing, comforting one another, moving bodies, or clearing rubble. He wanted to help. He couldn't stand seeing people suffer like this; every fibre of his being cried out for him to help them.

But he knew they needed to get back to Vale. The information their prisoner had could be the key to stopping things like this from happening again.

Jaune sighed. "Just… give me a minute. Let me go and say goodbye."

Pyrrha nodded and set their still unconscious prisoner on the ground. Jaune walked back into the village, waving to people as they met his gaze, or offering a reassuring smile. The leader of the village spotted him and approached.

"We can manage from here, good sir," he said to Jaune. "We are most appreciative of your aid, but I think we'd best take care of everything from here."

Jaune looked around at the people around him. They were listening to the exchange and nodding solemnly. Miners were always hard people; they had to be. Dust mines were dangerous, and anyone could die at any time. They were used to death, perhaps more than anyone.

Jaune nodded, realising that they _could_ handle it. They didn't need his help. They wanted to mourn amongst themselves, to rebuild with their own hands.

"We'll send some troops from Vale," he said to the village leader. "In case any of them should come back."

The man nodded. "That would be most appreciated, though I doubt they will after the beating we gave them."

Jaune gave the man a weak, lopsided smile. "I'll send them all the same, just in case. They can set up camp outside the village. They won't get in the way, or intrude; they'll just watch the surrounding areas and defend if need be."

The man nodded. "My thanks again."

Jaune hesitated, still torn by the urge to help the village more than he had. It felt like he'd done nothing but arrive, order people around, and get them killed. But no one gave him a bitter look. No one blamed him for the deaths of their friends and family. They all seemed grateful; they smiled and thanked him. _I guess that'll have to do…_

He nodded at the leader and turned away. Pyrrha smiled as he approached.

"You ready to go?" she asked as she hoisted the prisoner onto her shoulder again.

Jaune nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go home."


	6. A Day in the Office

Ruby bared her teeth as Crescent Rose sliced through flesh. She was a lethal blur of rose petals and falling limbs; she tore through Grimm as fast as they arrived and left a pile of corpses in her wake. Beowolves, Ursa and Boarbatusks piled up on top of one another and slowly faded away as Ruby moved on.

She drowned herself in the slaughter, revelled in it. This was what she'd been born for; the only thing she was _really_ good at. Even from her first days at Beacon, it had been the same: too awkward to make friends, but lethal in a fight. She hadn't started to break out of her shell until she became friends with—

Ruby gritted her teeth and threw herself at a pair of Ursai—only Minors. She focussed on the movement of her blade, the swing of the monsters' claws, and the sound of more closing in. She couldn't afford to think; couldn't afford to be distracted.

An Ursa paw—removed from its previously attached arm—flew past her and she spun. She swung Crescent Rose with a burst of her semblance and—with the force of the blow multiplied by the burst of speed—cut through both Ursai. Their aggressive roars cut off abruptly as they were hewn in half.

She vaulted over the corpses and spun around. There was a group of four Beowolves approaching. The dead Ursai acted as a small hurdle for them; not enough to slow them for long, but enough to give Ruby a second's respite.

She reloaded Crescent Rose and chambered a round. As the Beowolves leapt over the corpses, Ruby fired. Two of the Beowolves—younger than the others, with less armour—toppled to the ground when bullets tore through their skulls. Ruby fired behind her and spun as she was pushed forwards. Crescent Rose sang as it cut through the air in a vicious whirlwind, effortlessly tearing through the Beowolves.

As the last Beowolves fell, the area went quiet, but for the sound of Ruby's panting. She leant on Crescent Rose and closed her eyes as she tried to catch her breath. After almost an hour of non-stop combat, she could feel her legs starting to give out underneath her. She needed a break, even if only for ten minutes, then she could go on.

Her knees buckled and Ruby slumped to the ground. Crescent Rose fell to the ground next to her with a thud. Ruby leant back, opening up her lungs, and sucked in a deep breath of air. She looked up at the canopy of trees above her. The orange light of the slowly setting sun was mixing with the green of the Emerald Forest, and casting a strange glimmer on the forest floor. The boughs swayed back and forth in the breeze. The leaves rustled quietly.

A twig snapped.

Ruby whipped her head towards the noise and grabbed Crescent Rose. Ren was standing not five metres away, guns in hand. Ruby shot to her feet and gave him a questioning look. Ren nodded his head, his eyes looking over Ruby's shoulder. She turned around, and gasped.

The black head of a King Taijitu was hovering inches away from her face, completely silent. Before Ruby could even blink, it lunged.

Fangs streaked towards her, and Ruby flung herself to the side. She felt one of the fangs graze past her leg, but her aura protected her. She winced in pain as she hit the ground; there was a bruise on her side from her battle the night before, and it had been keeping her on the back foot all day.

She looked around as she got to her feet, but the white head was nowhere to be seen. Ruby turned her attention back to the black one. Ren was charging towards it as it continued its lunge, firing both guns at its eyes. Bullets bounced off the snake's thick hide and skittered off into the woods. One round hit its left eye; it reared up and hissed in pain before focussing its next attack on Ren.

Ren leapt upwards as the Taijitu attacked, spun over its head—firing all the while—and landed near the base of a tree. He ran straight up the trunk of the tree for at least five metres and jumped. He landed on the snake's back as it pulled back from its previous attack and stabbed the blade of one of his guns into the eye he had hit. The snake flailed and Ren was thrown off its back, landing lightly on a branch of a tree.

Ruby glanced around again, searching for the other head, but—again—found nothing. She froze as she heard something behind her. Not a loud noise. Not even really a noise. It was more like the hint of a noise. A feeling that something had shifted behind her. Without thinking, she spun and fired.

The bullet hit one of the top fangs of the white Taijitu head, shattering it. The snake reared back and flailed in pain. Ruby fired at the ground as she jumped and swung Crescent Rose at the monster's head. In the course of its erratic flailing, the snake managed to dodge Ruby's swing and—a second later—smack her in the side. She was sent sailing through the air and slammed painfully into a tree. She cried out as a flash of pain lanced down her side, then winced quietly as the cry tore at her still-tender throat.

Ruby managed to orient herself as she fell and landed in a crouch. The Taijitu seemed to have recovered from its fit of pain and was turning to face her once again. Crescent Rose roared in Ruby's hands and blood filled the air as bullets tore through its scaled hide. It lunged despite the barrage of gunfire, fangs poised, and Ruby spun to the side, swinging Crescent Rose.

The blade vanished into the snake's mouth as it passed and hooked into soft flesh therein. As soon as Ruby felt the scythe tug in her hands—as the Taijitu threatened to yank it from her grasp—she heaved on it. She took off at a run as the blade cut through the monster, dragging the scythe behind her.

The blade cut along the snake for at least ten metres before Ruby came to a stop. She looked back and had to wince at what she saw. The white head off the Taijitu had been sliced in half along its flank. However the monster had thrashed in its death throes had unfolded it, and Ruby could see the insides of the snake from where she stood all the way to its mouth.

She shuddered at the sight and turned away. Ren was still fighting the other head, but seemed to be handling himself. Ruby rushed over to help, but before she took two steps, the ground began to tremble.

She stumbled and fell to one knee. She glanced around, suddenly afraid that a Goliath had arrived. The trees shook violently, their boughs whipping back and forth, and Ruby felt her heart rise into her throat. The two of them wouldn't be able to fight a Goliath alone. She glanced towards Ren, opening her mouth to shout a warning.

He seemed unfazed by the sudden trembling. Ren was still leaping back and forth, firing at the snake all the while. He never stayed on the ground, or on a branch of a tree, for longer than a heartbeat; the violent quaking simply didn't have time to affect him.

He was concentrating his fire on the plates of armour on the Taijitu's head; Ruby saw several chunks of the white plating break free. She got to her feet as she called Ren's name, but it was all she could do to remain upright.

Not that Ren needed the help. He kicked off the trunk of a tree and soared towards the snake as it reared in pain. He'd planned his jump so that he approached from the snake's blinded side. He raised both of his guns behind his head and brought them down on the top of the Taijitu's head. The blades pierced the weakened and cracked armour and the monster stiffened.

The trembling was weakening, and Ruby was beginning to relax. If a Goliath were the cause of the quake, they would have seen it by now. Though it did make her wonder what _had_ caused it… Earthquakes were rare in Vale. Not unheard of, but rare. She shook her head; now wasn't the time. She took a step forward and, when she managed to keep her footing, took off at a run towards Ren.

The Taijitu toppled over and hit the ground with a loud thud. It didn't move. Ren's blades had apparently pierced its brain. He tugged the blades from the dead monster's head and closed his eyes.

Ruby came to a stop next to the fallen monster and waited. Ren had always been better than her at detecting nearby enemies. After a few seconds of silent contemplation, Ren slid his guns into his sleeves and opened his eyes. The trembling stopped completely as he jumped off the corpse of the Taijitu and turned towards Ruby.

"Clear," he said.

Ruby sighed and collapsed Crescent Rose. She hooked it onto her belt as she looked up at the sky. The sky was turning a dark red; they didn't have much daylight left, and even Ruby didn't like the idea of being in the Emerald Forest at night.

"We should probably head back," Ruby said.

Ren nodded, but didn't move. "We should rest first. There might be more on the way back."

Ruby glanced around as she considered. It was a good idea—she could use a breather—and if Ren had suggested it, then there were no Grimm around for miles. She looked back at Ren and nodded. They found a comfortable-looking tree and slumped to the ground under its shade.

Ruby leant her head against the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes. She let out a sigh and sucked in a deep breath. She'd agreed to a break, but the faster they recovered, and left, the sooner they'd be safe. And the sooner she'd get away from Ren's questioning, judgemental eyes.

It had started as soon as she'd asked him to come with her. He'd given her a bland look, a raised eyebrow, and a nod, but Ruby could see a glint of… something… in his eyes. Like he… pitied her. She'd seen it, but gritted her teeth and ignored it.

He'd agreed to come along, but Ruby had felt that he was only there to watch her. The Grimm had all seemed of little consequence. Well… _everything_ seemed of little consequence to Ren, but he'd seemed even more apathetic than usual. The feeling of his eyes on her back angered her a little. She didn't need a babysitter. Whenever Jaune came with her, there was a sense of camaraderie; they fought together, watching each other's backs. With Ren, it just felt like he was there to… well… babysit.

She glanced over at him. He was sitting next to her, not a foot away, with his legs crossed and eyes closed. His breathing was as calm as if he'd been sitting there for hours, as if the last few hours of combat had done nothing to him. That irked Ruby a little. _He _had suggested a break, but _clearly _didn't need it. What was he trying to say? That he thought Ruby needed one when he didn't? Did he think she wasn't good enough to keep up with him?

Apparently no one thought she was good enough for anything these days. Blake and Yang were always worrying over her. Ren's eyes filled with pity_—pity—_whenever he saw her. Nora… well… Nora was… Nora. Jaune was the only who genuinely treated Ruby like she was capable. Pyrrha at least pretended, but Ruby knew that was for Jaune's sake more than hers.

Somewhere along the line, everyone had stopped believing in her. And that tore Ruby up inside. They'd trusted her all through their time at Beacon, let her call the shots. She was their _leader_. Even if the teams had been disbanded, they should know that she was still capable of being the leader. Most teams stayed together for missions for that very reason! They grew to trust each other, and their leader, so they decided to tackle missions as a team.

When they'd first graduated, that was how it had started. And it was perfect. It was all Ruby had ever dreamed of. She was a Huntress, leading her team into battle. She went on missions outside the kingdom with her best friends, going on adventures and protecting the weak and the innocent. Those were the happiest months of her life…

Then Weiss left.

Just like that, everything changed.

Ruby's breath caught as she remembered. She propped her arms on her knees, hung her head forward and closed her eyes.

_"Weiss…? What's going on? Where are you going?"_

_"I… I'm going to Atlas."_

_"What for? Did something happen? Do we have a mission?"_

_"No… I'm just… going back."_

_"Oh… Do you want me to come with you?"_

_"No, Ruby… You have to stay here. I'm going alone."_

_"When will you be back?"_

_"I'm not coming back."_

_"… what?"_

Ruby choked back a sob and winced as it hurt her throat. She felt a flash of anger as she was reminded of the beating she'd taken the night before, how she'd almost died. Here she was trying to convince her friends that she was capable enough to take care of herself, while she was coloured black and blue. She shot a glance at Ren, but he was still meditating. He hadn't heard her choke. Tears welled up in her eyes as Weiss' voice rang in her ears again.

_"I said I'm not coming back, Ruby… I… I'm sorry. But I can't be with you anymore."_

Ruby dashed away her tears, winced as she accidentally nudged her nose—even if it didn't look deformed, her nose was definitely broken—and did her best to push Weiss' voice away. She got to her feet and turned to Ren.

"Come on," she said. "We should get back."

Ren slowly opened his eyes and met her gaze. He didn't stand. He just gazed at her silently.

"Ruby, why are we out here?"

Ruby blinked, unsure of what to say. "Because the city put in a request for Grimm to be cleared out…"

Ren shook his head. "_Anyone_ could have done this. Why did it have to be _us_?"

"_You_ didn't have to come."

"And let you come out here alone? Not likely."

"Then what're you talking about? You _wanted_ to come."

"No, I didn't. But I knew that you'd come anyway, even if I stayed."

Ruby crossed her arms. "So? Is there something wrong with wanting to help people?"

The dark-haired Huntsman sighed. "No, there's not. But there _is_ a problem with putting yourself in unnecessary danger _all the time_ and then claiming it's all for the greater good."

"What're you talking about? That's what Huntsmen and Huntresses _do_! We fight so that other people don't have to. We fight to protect the people who _can't_ fight! If no one else wants to help me do it, then I'll do it alone!"

"We want to help you, Ruby. But we don't want to _have_ to."

Anger flashed in Ruby's eyes. "And what do you mean _'have to'_ help me!? Does no one think I'm good enough to take care of myself? I can do this, Ren! You_ know_ I can. _Everyone _knows I can."

Ren got to his feet with a look almost as intense as her glare. "We know you can, but you're working yourself too hard. And we know that, at this rate, there's going to be a day when you don't come back, and that _terrifies_ us."

Ruby scoffed. "Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence. It sure feels like you all believe in me."

"We do—"

"Then _trust_ me! I'm fine!"

"Ruby, you are _not_ fine! Have you seen your face today? I don't know what happened, and I'm not going to ask if you don't want to tell me, but you look like hell. I've _never_ seen you beaten this bad before; you're clearly not at full fighting capability."

The furious Huntress opened her mouth to retort, but the Huntsman cut her off.

"So, no, you're not okay. You're not 'fine'. We've seen you when you're okay, when you're happy. We grew up with you being happy. We went through Beacon together, and you were happy all the while. You haven't been happy ever since Weiss left!"

Ruby flinched as if he had struck her. "That's not fair—"

Now Ren looked angry. "'Not fair?' Ruby, what _you're_ doing isn't fair! Yang and Blake might never say it, Jaune might be too kind to, but _I_ will. You're hurting us just as much as you're hurting yourself."

"What're you talking about? I'm not doing anything!"

"No, you _are_. And there must be some part of you that knows that."

Like an cowering animal, back into a corner, Ruby shrunk away from Ren's accusatory tone. "I… I'm just doing my job."

Ren shook his head. "You did your job before Weiss left. You went on missions with your team. You took _rests_. You didn't throw yourself from one life-threatening situation to the next, without any time to recover, just to keep Weiss out of your head."

"That's not…"

"It _is_," His voice was ice, cold and unrelenting. "And we all know it. You're upset that Weiss left—heartbroken—we get that. We can understand. We can sympathise. Hell, we can _help._ But you never let us. Ever since she left, you've just bottled everything up and spent your days _killing_. Does that sound like a healthy way to deal with a heartbreak?"

Her eyes fell to her feet. She didn't know what to say, though that was enough of an answer.

"Exactly," Ren continued. "And while it's good that you at least ask us to come along, is it really fair to make us spend _every day_ looking out for you? I know Jaune is always willing to come with you, and I'm happy to come along whenever he can't, but don't you think he wants to spend time with his _wife_?"

The young Huntress nodded, but said nothing.

"The only time they spend alone together is when they go on their own missions. It's putting a strain on their relationship, Ruby. Do you want to be the reason, if indirectly, why Jaune and Pyrrha fall out?"

Ruby shook her head. Tears were welling up in her eyes again. She _knew_ all this; she'd seen Pyrrha and Jaune arguing. She'd just pushed it all aside, convinced herself that protecting the city was more important.

"It might not be obvious when you look at her," Ren continued. "But Nora worries about you too. She asks me every night—every _single_ night—if you're okay, and when you'll get better. And, for the first time in my life, I don't know what to say to her. And Yang and Blake… They're your _sisters_. They care about your well-being as much as any of us, if not more. They love you more than you'd realise, Ruby, because you're too wrapped up in this spiral of self-pity to notice."

"Yang left too…" Ruby muttered.

"She left on a _mission_ because we _made her_! She was tearing herself apart worrying about you. All of us could see that she was reaching a breaking point, so we sent her away. Blake manages it better, but she's just as bad, and she couldn't deal with worrying about both you _and_ Yang all the time. It's putting its own strain on _their_ marriage as well. You can't keep putting them through this, Ruby."

A single, solitary tear dropped from her nose as she nodded.

"I don't want to sound harsh, here," Ren's voice softened. "I care about you too, but someone needed to say _something_. You can't keep doing this. We all know what you're doing and why, and we all know it's not good for you. You need to rest. You need to talk to someone—and it doesn't have to be me—but this isn't how you deal with emotions like these. Let us help you."

Ruby looked up and met Ren's gaze. He was smiling. All trace of anger was gone, replaced by a gentle care, and love. She wanted to smile back, wanted to nod, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I… I'll try," she muttered. She wasn't sure if she was lying or not.

He seemed to take it at face value and nodded. "That's all I ask."

Ruby took a deep breath and nodded.

Ren reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "You do look like hell though."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up."

She stormed past him, towards the city, a smile tugging at her lips. Ren laughed as he followed her. He caught up quickly and walked alongside her back to Vale. They heard Grimm occasionally as they trekked through the forest, but none of them attacked, so Ruby ignored them. She knew what Ren would say if she dove into another fight right after his lecture, and she wasn't going to deal with that.

They entered Vale as the sun hit the horizon. Ren offered to walk Ruby home, but she turned him down, telling him she needed some time to think. He watched her walk away, a concerned look on his face, but said nothing. She glanced back as she turned the corner and saw him finally turning away.

A sigh escaped her as she lost sight of Ren. His words rang in her ears, mocking her. She knew he was right: she couldn't keep depending on everyone so much, it was unfair on all of them. A getaway, a mission abroad, that was what she needed. Yang would be home tonight or tomorrow, and Ruby really didn't want to explain what had happened to her, and why she was so battered. A few days out of the city—alone, not depending on anyone—sounded wonderful.

She nodded to herself as she passed a small bakery, the owner closing up his shop. He called out to her—she came by frequently and often ate there—but she didn't even hear him. After watching her walk past in awkward silence, hand raised in greeting, he shrugged and turned back to his work.

The sky was beginning to darken when Ruby reached her apartment. No one crossed her path as she entered the building and made her way up to the top floor, and for that she was grateful.

The last light of the day shone in her window, painting everything in the room a bloody orange. A dull throbbing started in Ruby's side as she stepped inside. Maybe Ren was right, and she needed some rest, but Ruby was too determined to let a _bruise_ slow her down.

_Tomorrow,_ she thought, _I'll leave. I'll find a mission, and I'll go._

That way, she couldn't depend on anyone. No one would have to put up with her. She wouldn't get in between any couples, or ruin any relationships. People could get on with their lives. Everyone would be happier.

Ruby hung Crescent Rose up and slumped onto the lounge in her living room. A holographic screen snapped into life on the wall as she sat down and showed a news anchor talking about some dull, boring current event in Vacuo. Something about a kidnapping, nothing important. Ruby blocked it out.

She pulled out her scroll.

Huntsmen and Huntresses had a simple system of work once they graduated. Some became teachers, some did research, but most became freelancers of a sort. There was an application on every Huntsmen or Huntresses' scroll that showed them a list of available jobs, or other requests. One could scroll through it, find one that sounded interesting, fun, or whatever other criteria one used to choose jobs, and volunteer for it.

All jobs had a reward posted for payment upon completion. Easier ones payed less; harder, more dangerous jobs payed more. It was encouraged to go on harder jobs with partners, or teams, and the larger rewards were split equally.

There were requests for anything from hunting down the leader of a criminal organisation, or protecting a village far away that was under Grimm attack, to things like clearing Grimm from the surrounding forests. Anything that could require a Huntsman or Huntress was posted on the Board, as it was called.

Ruby slipped her scroll out of her pocket to check the Board—she needed to find a job that was at least a few days away from Vale—and was surprised to see a small, yellow light flashing on the surface of the closed scroll. There was no reason anyone would have called her; every one of her friends who was in Vale had known where she was all day, and none of the others had returned yet.

She opened the scroll with a sigh and checked the caller ID.

People say that when someone is surprised enough, their heart will 'skip a beat'. They say it's an uncomfortable, sometimes painful, experience that only occurs when someone is confronted with a potentially life-changing event, or emotional upheaval, out of the blue. 'Skipping a beat' is an apt description for what most people experience in such a situation, but it requires that the heart quickly start beating again.

Ruby's heart stopped entirely.

For at least a second, maybe two, nothing moved. So it hurt like hell when it kicked in again. She gasped in a painful mix of physical pain, shock and a sudden wave of emotional turmoil, then dropped her scroll.

She scrambled back, leaning into the back of the couch, as she stared at the scroll. It couldn't be true, she knew that. It had to be some kind of joke, and a sick one at that, or a hallucination. There was no way… But the possibility of it being real made her crawl over and pick up the scroll again, to double check.

There it was again.

_One missed call. Weiss Schnee._


	7. An Affectionate Homecoming

It was late, but Blake was still in her office. Her eyelids were starting to droop now and then and she'd caught herself nodding of more than once. She should've gone home by now, she knew that, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.

She'd spent the afternoon talking to Violet, trying to find a way to sort out the girl's problems in class. It hadn't been easy, but they'd managed to devise a possible solution to it all. Some classes had been swapped around, for both Violet and a few of her Faunus friends, and Blake had sent a warning message to all the faculty, telling them to be on guard if the bullies from Violet's old class were seen around her or her friends.

It was a simple idea, but Violet had seemed much more at ease when she'd left—which made it worthwhile in the end. Hopefully the girl would get some peace now, and be able to focus on her studies without being afraid.

As soon as the girl had left, Blake had begun searching through reports and manifests on the city's Dust stores. She'd searched through Vale's import and export documentation, trying to find any discrepancies between them and the actual Dust stock within in the city.

She'd come up with nothing.

It had taken her hours to read through all the lists of shipments, deliveries and storages and compare them all, and she'd found absolutely nothing. Everything seemed normal. They had been having a small deficiency in Dust over the last few months—something to do with the surrounding mines not being able to fill quotas—but they still had enough to get by, and every grain of Dust that came in or went out was accounted for.

Blake found herself beginning to doubt Raud's story. Not the authenticity of the man himself—he'd seemed very sincere in his warnings and offers of help—but she was beginning to doubt that anything was actually happening in Vale. The man that had attacked Ruby still concerned her, but there was no evidence to suggest a government conspiracy or any thefts of Dust.

The exhausted Faunus sat back in her chair, gazing at the screen in front of her, with a finger tapping idly on her lips. She was scanning over the manifests for the second time, making sure she hadn't missed anything, but, try as she might, she couldn't find anything.

The only thing that kept her suspicious was the possibility that the unknown enemy had been able to hide their tracks flawlessly, which seemed unlikely. No matter who was trying to cover it up, with something this big, there would be _something. _She knew it was probably a bad idea to start being suspicious of everyone and everything based on a _lack _of evidence, but if something like this was going on in both Vacuo and Mistral, then Blake had to be careful—she had to be _sure_.

Blake hung her head back with a groan. She could sit here all night, thinking herself in circles, and probably wouldn't find anything else—she knew that. She was getting too tired and had caught herself skipping lines in the manifests more than once.

There was a creak near the door to her office, and Blake glanced towards it. A door across the hall opened and closed, and then all was silent once more. Kelly must have gone out for coffee. The woman was always stubborn about staying in the office until Blake left, in case Blake ever needed anything. No matter how many times Blake told her to go home, Kelly would always be at the door, waiting, when she left.

Blake considered asking Kelly to get her a coffee as well, but decided against it. It _was_ getting late, and Yang would be back soon; it was about time for Blake to head home. She hadn't seen Yang for almost two weeks, and was eager to be in her arms again. No doubt Yang would be disappointed if she got home and Blake was still at the office this late.

Blake sighed and pushed her chair back. She grabbed her jacket that hung on a coat rack in the corner and slipped her arms in the sleeves, then grabbed Gambol Shroud from its mount next to the coat rack. There was another creak near the door as Blake crossed the room, no doubt Kelly getting back to her office. Blake opened the door and opened her mouth to tell Kelly to go home.

Then Jaune punched her in the forehead.

Blake stumbled back into her office, raising a hand to her face, and Jaune looked at her in horror. He stood at the door, frozen in place, with his fist held up as if about to knock on her door. Pyrrha peeked over his shoulder, obviously trying to stifle a laugh.

"Uh…" Jaune stammered, his face turning red. "Anyone home?"

Blake looked up at the blonde-haired moron and raised an eyebrow. "And I thought Weiss' jokes were bad."

Jaune laughed nervously and lowered his hand. "Sorry about that. Bad timing."

Blake rolled her eyes and Pyrrha burst into laughter.

"The looks on your faces," Pyrrha choked out in between laughs. "Gods, that was funny."

Blake—now sporting a red mark on her forehead—aimed her cocked eyebrow at Pyrrha for a moment, then sighed in resignation as Pyrrha only laughed harder.

"What're you two doing here?" Blake asked.

Pyrrha gasped for breath, trying to regain her composure, leaving Jaune to answer.

"We just got back," he replied, glancing at Pyrrha in concern. The tall, red-haired woman seemed to be having trouble breathing. "And saw your office light on through the window. We figured we'd stop by and say hello, see what you were up to."

Blake sighed. "Well come in. I was about to leave, but I can hang around for a little longer."

"Are you sure?" Jaune asked. "If you want to go home, you can go."

The Faunus shook her head as she took off her jacket. "It's fine, it'll be nice to catch up. I haven't seen you two in a while."

Jaune smiled and stepped into the office; Pyrrha staggered in behind him. They both sat on the lounge, and Blake took the seat in front of the desk—the one visitors sat in when she was behind her desk—hung her coat over the back of it, and placed Gambol Shroud on the floor. As she looked up, Pyrrha finally seemed to regain a measure of composure and wiped tears from her eyes.

"Feeling better?" Blake asked her.

"Much, thanks," Pyrrha said with a smirk. "That _was_ pretty funny though."

Blake broke into a smile and chuckled to herself. There was flash of movement near the door, and Blake turned towards it. Kelly was peeking her head in the door, a questioning look on her face.

Blake shot her a smile. "Ah, Kelly, could you go and get us three coffees, please?"

Kelly smiled in greeting to Jaune and Pyrrha and nodded. "Of course, Miss Belladonna."

The door clicked shut as Blake turned back to her guests. "So, how was the mission?"

"As good as any," Pyrrha replied with a smile. Jaune nodded in agreement. "It had its ups and downs, but we made do. It was good to get away for a while, even if it was only for work."

Blake forced herself to smile as she nodded. They all knew what Pyrrha meant by 'good to get away' was 'good to get away from Ruby'.

"That's great," Blake said. "I've been thinking of going for a vacation soon; a break sounds _amazing_."

"The kids pushing you hard?" Jaune asked with a nostalgic smile. Blake smiled back, remembering all the mischief they got up to and the trouble they'd put their teachers through. She really had it easy compared to that.

"No, the kids are fine," she elaborated. "Well, as 'fine' as teenagers can be. I've just been wanting to go away with Yang for a week or so; spend some time alone."

"Is she still away?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah." Blake sighed. "She should be back soon though. I wouldn't be surprised if she's at home, waiting."

"Oh, sorry," Jaune said, half-getting out of his seat. "We didn't mean to keep you away from her."

Blake waved at him to sit back down. "It's fine," she said. "I haven't seen her for two weeks, it can wait another half hour or so. I haven't seen you two in ages either."

Jaune opened his mouth to protest again, but then the door opened and Kelly walked in with a tray of coffee mugs, cream and sugar cubes. Blake thanked her and took the tray, setting it down on her desk.

"I'm all finished for the night, Kelly, you can go home. We'll just chat here for a little while, then I can lock up."

Kelly frowned, and her lock of green hair fell over one of her eyes. "Are you sure, Ma'am?"

The Faunus sighed. "Yes, Kelly, I can lock my office without you watching over my shoulder. Go home." She finished with a smile.

The young woman smiled in return. "Of course, Miss Belladonna. Thank you."

"No need, Kelly. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow."

Kelly nodded and backed out of the room with a smile. Blake turned back to her friends, who were each nursing a steaming mug of coffee. She picked up the last mug, lathered it with cream and dropped in a couple of sugar cubes.

"So did anything exciting happen while we were away?" Pyrrha asked as Blake sat down.

The black-haired woman shrugged. "Not a whole lot. Ruby's still being her… herself. Nora shipped out a few days ago to help Yang. Yang visited Weiss. Ren went out on a mission with Ruby today… Oh yeah!" She glanced at the door before continuing in a lowered voice. "And there might a government conspiracy poised to take over Vacuo, Mistral, possibly Vale, and, at a guess, probably Atlas as well."

The married couple blinked twice in unison before crying out in shock. "_Yang visited Weiss!_"

This time it was Blake's turn to laugh. Of _course_ that would be what they'd focus on; they probably hadn't heard anything after she'd said after that.

"Yes. Weiss told me about it earlier today," she said with a grin.

"Hold on…" Jaune said, holding up a hand. "Yang… visited Weiss… and Weiss is _alive_?"

"So it would seem."

He slumped back into the lounge and looked at Pyrrha as if his entire world had just flipped on its head; she looked just as surprised.

"What happened?" Pyrrha asked.

"From what I can tell," Blake replied, "they talked about Ruby. And Weiss must have said the right thing, because she was fine when I talked to her. I'll ask Yang about it when she gets back, but I guess everything went… unexpectedly well."

"Wow…" Pyrrha whispered.

"Anyway," Blake moved on. "How about you? Anything important happen to you while you were away?"

Jaune didn't seem to hear her, but Pyrrha's smile faded slightly.

"We…" the red-haired woman hesitated.

Blake's brow furrowed. "What is it?"

"We caught a member of the Black Talon."

Pyrrha's words slammed into Blake like a freight train.

_The Black Talon…_

They were a new and dangerous threat that had cropped up almost two years, and, to everyone else, they were just that: a dangerous threat. To Blake, the Black Talon had become a lingering reminder of her past, and everything she had fought to change in the world.

A few weeks after their first attack, Blake had gone to talk a few of her old friends—ex-White Fang members. None of them had known anything about the Talon. All she'd learnt was that a section of the Fang had splintered off nearly five years ago, and pretty much dropped off the face of Remnant. No one heard anything about the men and women who had left until they attacked a Dust refinery near Atlas under the banner of the Black Talon three years later.

With the Talon having broken off from the White Fang so long before the latter organisation was disbanded, Blake gave up on any hope of finding the members through her past contacts. Then, despite all their efforts to do so, no one had been able to capture any of them alive. Blake had started to give up hope that they'd be able to bring the Talon down, but here Pyrrha was, presenting an opportunity to do just that—if they could get any information out of the prisoner.

"That… That's great news," Blake said. "Have you managed to…?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "He's still unconscious. Jaune swears he didn't hit him that hard, but when we gave him to the doctors here; they said it looked like he might have aura shock."

Blake frowned. It had been a long time since she'd heard of a case of aura shock. Not since… _Myrka. _Her frown deepened. Now that she remembered the name, her brain was pouring other memories to the forefront.

He had escaped custody, freed by the White Fang, almost five years ago; right around the time the members of the Black Talon had left the White Fang. That couldn't be a coincidence… Someone in control of the Fang had freed him, possibly repaired his aura, and given him a portion of their troops to form his own terrorist organisation? Blake's instincts told her no, that no Faunus that was enough of an activist to join the White Fang, let alone the Talon, would work for a human. But they _had_ worked for Torchwick and Cinder…

"Damn," she whispered. It was _possible._

"I know," Pyrrha said. "But he'll wake up eventually."

Blake looked up and blinked in confusion. What was Pyrrha talking about? Once Pyrrha saw Blake's confused look, she matched it with her own.

"What?" the red-haired Huntress asked. "What's wrong?"

Blake blinked as she remembered the prisoner. "Nothing! Nothing," she reassured Pyrrha. "Just… thinking…"

"About what?"

Blake shook her head. "I'm not sure yet. I'll need some time to think it over a bit more before I share."

Pyrrha hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Blake smiled her appreciation; she didn't want to start throwing around crazy theories with no evidence or proper reasoning to back it up, no matter how well the pieces might fit at first glance. Besides, knowing who was in charge of the Talon wasn't going to help them. That wouldn't tell them where they were hiding, or what they were after; there were more important mysteries to solve.

"Anyway," Jaune cut in, apparently recovered from his shock at Weiss' survival. "Once he wakes up, we'll question him. We'll get any information out of him we can, then we'll see what we can do about bringing down the Talon with what we get."

He seemed eager, and excited. Maybe too excited. Blake _knew_ that it wouldn't be that easy. They'd never caught a member alive before because they'd always managed to commit suicide before being captured. If they were willing to kill themselves to prevent their capture, Blake couldn't see them cracking under interrogation.

"So what's this about a conspiracy?" Pyrrha asked, snapping Blake out of her thoughts.

The Faunus laughed. "So you _did_ hear that, did you?"

Pyrrha grinned. "It took a little while to register, but I got there."

Blake shook her head as she chuckled. "I won't go into too many details tonight," she began. "I'm going to call everyone back here tomorrow, and explain it to all of you, and I really don't want to do it twice." Pyrrha and Jaune both nodded. "Basically, Weiss told me today that there is Dust going into Mistral that's unaccounted for on any of her shipping logs, and she's trying to work out why. I met someone today, whom you'll meet tomorrow, who told me that Dust is being smuggled _out_ of Vacuo. He came to warn us that something similar might be going on here, and I figure it's worth us all looking into—just in case."

Pyrrha and Jaune both frowned. "That is… odd," Pyrrha said. "But are we sure it's a government conspiracy?"

Blake raised a hand. "Can we leave it until tomorrow? I'll give you all the details, and then you can decide. If you're still sceptical, we can talk it through then."

Pyrrha nodded and downed the last of her coffee with one swig. Then she got to her feet and gestured for Jaune to get up as well.

"We should probably call it a night then," she said. "Sounds like we'll have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

Blake nodded and rose from her chair. "Sounds good. I am getting a bit tired."

As if on cue, Jaune let out a massive yawn. Pyrrha grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close.

"Looks like someone else is getting tired as well," she said affectionately. He grinned and kissed her quickly on the cheek.

The sight of their affection made Blake want to leave even more; she wanted to see Yang again. She grabbed her jacket and Gambol Shroud, and swung them both on. Jaune held the door open for them as they left, then Blake locked the door behind them, jiggling the handle to make sure it was locked.

Blake turned to her right, towards Jaune, Pyrrha, and the exit, but then she heard the squeak of floorboards to her left. She turned back, gazing down the corridor, but saw nothing.

"Everything okay?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah…" Blake muttered. "Thought I heard something."

"What?"

"Nothing. It's fine. Beacon's an old building; old buildings make noise. It was probably just the wood creaking in the cold."

She led the way down the corridor and pulled out her scroll as they reached the door that led out to the grounds. A green light flicked on above the door as Blake held her scroll in front of the scanner next to it, and the door slid open. The grounds were illuminated by lights scattered across the campus, and any patches of ground that evaded their light were cast in a pale glow by the half-moon.

"Have you got your scroll?" Pyrrha asked Jaune as they stepped outside, into the moonlight.

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. I've got it."

"Are you sure? You remember what happened the last time you left it inside? You couldn't get into the school for the whole day, until _I_ went and found it for you."

"_I've got it!_" Jaune groaned. "No need to remind me every damn time."

Pyrrha laughed at his annoyance and wrapped both of her arms around one of his affectionately as they began to cross the grounds. Blake smiled to herself and shook her head. She'd never expected Pyrrha to have such a playful side, but it had sprung out of nowhere once she and Jaune and started dating in their third year.

It was nice to see though; nothing ever got her down for long. If she was near Jaune, she was happy. And he was just the same. Whenever one of them saw the other, anyone around could see their eyes light up with joy. It was touching to see; they had all of their affection for one another written so plainly on their faces, and everyone who saw it knew, immediately, that the two were made for each other.

Blake and the love-struck couple walked back into Vale. As they stepped through the gate that marked the border of Beacon's grounds, and onto the street, they said their goodbyes and parted ways. Pyrrha and Jaune lived in an apartment in the north side of Vale; Blake and Yang lived just a block away from Beacon.

The school had offered Blake an apartment on campus, in the faculty dorm, but she'd refused. She and Yang had wanted their own place, away from the hustle and bustle of Beacon. Somewhere where they could forget their responsibilities for a few hours and be Blake and Yang, the married couple, rather than Blake and Yang, the Huntresses. So they'd bought their own apartment, but kept it close to the school—Blake hadn't wanted to have to commute through the city for hours to get to work every morning.

Her heart thumped as she caught sight of the six-storey-tall apartment building. The front door of the building was brightly lit; a warm inviting light, made more so by the fact that Yang could be waiting inside. Blake glanced at the upper floors, where their apartment was. The façade of the building was glowing a pale white in the moonlight, and all the windows were dark.

Blake pushed aside the shard of disappointment that lanced through her heart. That didn't mean anything. Yang often left the lights off whenever she got back from a mission while Blake was out. She hid somewhere in the apartment and tried to scare Blake. The Faunus smiled. Yang had never really grown up; she was just as fun-loving and excitable as she had been when they'd first met.

The doors opened as Blake approached and she stepped inside, forcing herself not to run. The elevator's call button turned green as she pressed it, and the screen above the door lit up, telling her the elevator was on the third floor. She tapped an irregular beat on her thighs as she waited.

After a century, the elevator doors opened and Blake stepped in. She hit the button for the fifth floor and leant back against the rear wall. Her heart rose in her throat as the elevator rose through building.

After a millennia, the doors opened again. Blake hurried out. The hallway leading to the apartment seemed to stretch out before her feet, growing longer and longer with each step she took.

Then she was at the door. She fumbled her scroll as she tried to hold it to the scanner, and it thudded to the carpeted floor. Her knee popped loudly as she darted down to grab it, like a cracked knuckle.

Stars could have formed and died in the amount of time it took for the apartment door to finally open. Blake almost sprinted inside and closed the door behind with a click.

The entire apartment was dark, almost pitch black. Even with her Faunus eyes, Blake could barely see two feet to either side of her. Her ear twitched as she focussed, trying to hear any noises inside. The apartment was utterly silent, eerily so. If Yang was hiding, she was hiding well.

There were quite a few places to hide as well. There was a bedroom immediately to Blake's right, and a hallway in front of her, leading to the kitchen, living room, and the main bedroom. She mentally ran through a list of where Yang had hidden before, and decided to check the spare bedroom anyway.

Making sure to step close to the wall to avoid any loose, squeaking floorboards, Blake stepped into the small room. It was rarely used, though they occasionally had friends stay in it after a dinner party if they'd had a bit too much to drink—Nora was the most regular tenant.

A quick inspection of the room provided nothing in the way of hidden spouses, so Blake headed back to the entryway. There was a small ensuite bathroom attached to the room, though it provided nowhere to hide. Blake gave it a brief search anyway, just in case, but found nothing. She closed the bedroom door behind her as quietly as she could before heading down the hallway.

She touched a hand lightly against the wall with each step, making sure she stayed right next to it, and moved slowly, always on the balls of her feet. With every step, Blake cursed how well tinted the windows were; not a hint of moonlight made it in. She _could_ just turn on a light, but that would be giving up. Yang had won this game last; Blake wasn't going to let her win again.

Something creaked in the apartment. Blake froze. It hadn't been her. Yang must have moved. It sounded like it had come from the living, not a helpful clue. She was heading that way already.

She came out of the hallway and crouched at the corner. The hallway came out in the corner of the main living area, which stretched out in front of Blake and to her right. There was a window on the far wall, with curtains drawn over it.

The area at the far end of the room, under the window, was the lounge area, with two large lounges and a TV mounted on the left wall. Directly in front of Blake was the dining area, a large, rectangular, eight person table, with chairs all around it. Further to the right was the kitchen, with the kitchen bench acting as a divider between the two areas. Directly to Blake's right, there was a wall, with a door leading into the main bedroom.

Straining her eyes as much as she could, Blake peered into the darkness. It didn't help. She knew the table was there—she'd bought the thing—but she could barely see the chair sitting at the nearest end.

Frowning in thought, Blake decided to check the bedroom first. Best to start at one end and sweep across. She crept through the door and, as quietly as Faunusly possible, tore the room apart. She checked under the bed, in a corner partially hidden by a chest of drawers, in their ensuite, everywhere anyone could potentially hide, but found nothing. She even checked in the closet, where Yang had hidden before, but found nothing—as she'd pretty much expected.

Blake had just stepped out of the bedroom and into the dining area when she felt a chill. It wasn't cold, but she shivered. She tensed her muscles and started to spin back to the bedroom just a pair of hands clamped down on her shoulders. She shrieked and jerked away, but the hands held her firmly.

"I win," Yang's voice whispered in her ear, dripping with amusement.

Blake swore under her breath and tried to pull away, but the hands spun her around and pulled her close. Soft lips pressed against hers, and Blake inhaled through her nose. Yang's scent threatened to overwhelm her, and she gave into the kiss. Her head spun as she pushed into Yang, pressing their lips together passionately.

Even if the lights were on, Blake wouldn't have been able to see anything at this point. All sensations faded away as she lost herself in the sensation of Yang's lips. Yang wrapped her arms around Blake's waist and pulled the black-haired woman tight against her body. Blake forgot which way was up, what her own name was, and the meaning of the word 'alone'.

Yang lifted Blake up and stepped back into the bedroom before tipping back onto the bed. They landed on their sides, lips still locked—only parting momentarily for desperate gasps for breath—with their legs hanging off the bottom of the bed. Blake broke away from Yang and pushed herself towards the bed head—she hated having her feet dangling in the air while she and Yang…—and kicked off her boots. She heard two thuds as Yang kicked off her own boots and then gasped in surprise as Yang lunged at her.

They kissed for a fleeting moment before Blake pushed Yang to the side—onto her back. The Faunus swung a leg over Yang's waist and straddled her, sitting back. She shrugged off her jacket and Gambol Shroud and tossed them to the floor with her boots before returning to the matter at hand. It was still pitch black and impossible to see, but from where she was now, Blake swore she could make out her wife's every detail.

She ran her hands up Yang's stomach, under her shirt, feeling the decadent smoothness of her skin. Yang let out a shuddering breath and Blake grinned. She pushed her hands up higher, tracing the small bumps of Yang's ribs, until the tips of her fingers brushed against the bottom of Yang's bra—then she stopped. Yang sucked in a breath, the kind of breath one takes in between bouts of torture.

Blake grinned wickedly and pulled her hands away. Yang let out a sigh that sounded full of disappointment, then gasped for breath again as Blake's hands nestled gently on the curve of her hips. The suddenly masochistic Faunus ran her hands lightly up her blonde victim's sides, brushing against the side of her breasts, and slid them along the smooth skin of Yang's arms until she reached the wrists. Then Blake pulled Yang's arms up and forced them back against the pillows, above Yang's head.

Now that her wife was effectively immobilized, Blake leant down, _ever_ so slowly, taking in every sensation that arose as she did so. She shivered as the bare skin of her stomach touched Yang's, still exposed from when Blake had lifted her shirt; sucked in a ragged breath as her breasts pressed against Yang's; and questioned her sanity as she touched her lips, lighter than the touch of a feather, to Yang's.

Yang pushed her head forward, trying to force a more passionate kiss, but her tormentor pulled away with a smirk. The blonde woman's next breath was almost a groan. Blake leant in again, slower this time, until she was close enough to Yang's lips to breath lightly on them. Yang tensed underneath her, and Blake moved on. She pressed her cheek against Yang's, with her mouth right next to Yang's ear.

"Don't. move."

Yang shivered at the feeling of Blake's breath running over her ear. Blake smiled and flicked her tongue out, teasingly flicking it against Yang's earlobe. This time Yang bucked, but Blake managed to hold her down.

Once Yang settled back down, Blake moved back to Yang's mouth, pressing her lips against Yang's just as lightly as she had before. She waited for a moment, and then, when Yang didn't move, she began to trace her feather-light kisses along Yang's lips, moving along the bottom lip first, then back across the top one, until she was back where she started.

Yang finally tore her hands out of the weaker, black-haired woman's grip, wrapped her arms around Blake's waist, and flipped over. Blake let out a laugh and wrapped her legs around Yang's waist as the blonde woman pushed her back into the soft mattress. Her laugh cut short as Yang's lips pressed against hers with all the force of a tsunami. And, like a tsunami, the sensation of Yang crashed over Blake as she gave in and gave herself over to the love of her life.

Hands ran up Blake's stomach, under her shirt, but didn't stop at the bottom of her bra. In fact, they didn't stop until Blake's shirt was pulled over her head and tossed onto the floor. Blake's head spun as the hands returned and Yang nibbled at her neck. That wasn't fair. Yang _knew _that was her weak point. At this point, Blake lost all self-control, and began to tear at Yang's clothes just as rabidly as Yang had removed hers.

The two lovers lost themselves in each other. Blake always made a game of trying to find the silver lining to every cloud, and if she had to pick a silver lining for the cloud of Yang leaving her alone for two weeks, this was it.


	8. Beginning an Investigation

The sun was rising as Weiss' airship touched down in Mistral. She looked up from her scroll as the pilot's voice crackled through the intercom. The door to her left edged open as she pushed herself out of the seat.

She grabbed Myrtenaster from a weapon rack on the wall and picked up her suitcase. Myrtenaster slipped into its loop on her belt, and Weiss smiled. She missed the weapon's weight at her hip. Working at the Schnee Dust Company was an important job, but not a very exciting one. Feeling Myrtenaster tugging at her belt was a reminder that, for the moment at least, she was a Huntress again.

Weiss strode down the gangway with a small smile on her face and raised a hand in greeting when she spotted Neptune waiting for her on the landing pad. He looked the same as he always did: hair painstakingly crafted into shape, designer clothes, still wearing those _stupid _goggles. Weiss glanced down at her own outfit; she hadn't changed much either. Her clothes were pretty much just a resizing of what she wore during her time at Beacon, though she'd cut her hair shorter since then.

Neptune waved back and shot her a grin.

"How was the flight?" he asked as Weiss approached.

She shrugged. "I've had worse. I'm just glad to be out of Atlas for a while," she added with a wry twist to her smile.

The blue-haired Huntsman laughed. "I'll never understand why you stay there if you hate it so much."

"I don't _hate_ it," Weiss insisted. "It's just nice to get away now and again."

Neptune rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure."

Weiss frowned. She didn't like being patronised. But before she could say anything, Neptune turned away.

"Come on," he called over his shoulder. "The car's out the front."

Weiss raised an eyebrow as she watched him walk towards the terminal, then sighed and followed at a brisk walk until she caught up. She handed her ID to the checkpoint guards at the door and glanced out a nearby window as they ran through the system.

The sun was peeking out from in-between the towering buildings in Mistral's city centre and filling the city with light. There was a park nearby and people were already visible, even at this early hour, walking dogs or going for morning jogs. It looked so peaceful.

_Looked _peaceful.

Weiss couldn't help but wonder what was going on under the surface. They knew something was happening in the city, but they had no starting point for their investigation and no idea how big whatever they were investigating could be. It could involve the entire city for all they knew. Who knew how long that peaceful façade could last?

Weiss felt a chill, and not from the early morning breeze. She found herself holding the silver rose at her throat, squeezing it in her left hand. The chill slowly went away as she took strength from Ruby's pendant.

_It doesn't matter how big it is, _she thought, _we'll get to the bottom of it._

_And once we're done, I can go and see Ruby again…_

Weiss smiled at the thought, then was snapped out of her thoughts as the checkpoint guard cleared his throat. She blushed slightly as she took her ID back and they waved her through. From Neptune's desperate attempt to hide his smile, she knew they'd been waiting for her for too long. And that made her blush more.

They didn't talk as they strode through the terminal. Weiss walked a few steps ahead to avoid Neptune's amused gaze, but had to let him catch him when she stepped outside and realised she didn't know where he'd parked. He patted her on the shoulder and pointed to the left.

"Over here," he said. "It's not far."

They walked into the large parking lot and weaved through the cars. It wasn't long before Weiss spotted the familiar shape of Neptune's car. She'd only visited him in Mistral a few times, but she recognised the expensive-looking, convertible sports car. Cars had never really been an area of interest to Weiss, but she couldn't help but be impressed by it. It was a nice looking car.

Neptune popped the trunk open and Weiss placed her suitcase inside. She drew Myrtenaster as she opened the passenger door and sat down, placing the rapier point first on the floor. Neptune raised an eyebrow at her.

"You can put that in the trunk too if you want."

Weiss shook her head. "I want to keep it on me, just in case."

"In case what?"

She shrugged. "I'm on a job here; I like to keep it on me when I'm on a job."

Neptune paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Fair enough." He sat in the driver's seat and turned the car on.

"Now," he said with a grin, "for the most important question: Roof up, or roof down?"

"What do you think?"

He laughed. "Okay, roof down it is." At the press of a button, the roof of the car folded back and sank into a compartment at the back. The breeze blew into the car, and Weiss looked out her window in an attempt to hide her smile. It would never do for people to know that a Schnee enjoyed speeding down highways with the roof down; she had a reputation to uphold.

They pulled out of the parking lot and turned into the streets of the city. Weiss' whipped back and forth in the wind as they sped down one of the city's major roads. She closed her eyes and smiled as she relished the experience. Neptune laughed, but she ignored it. She was out of Atlas. Myrtenaster was at her side. They were hunting down a strange conspiracy. This was what she was made for.

After a while, she opened her eyes. Neptune was grinning, glancing at her now and then. He laughed when their eyes met, and she grinned back. They tore down the road, speeding past cars and trucks, much faster than they should have. But they didn't care. All Huntsmen and Huntresses had special license plates on their cars, so other drivers and police knew who was behind the wheel. It let them bend the rules now and then and, while it was only meant to be used for emergencies, they liked to take advantage of that power. Life as a Huntress wasn't all training and fighting to save the world, Weiss mused, it had its own advantages in day-to-day life.

They sped through the city until they reached Neptune's apartment. He lived halfway up a twenty-storey apartment complex. Not quite a penthouse suite, but it was certainly an up-market building. Neptune was always prone to over-spending for extra luxury. Not that Weiss was complaining; it gave her a nice place to stay whenever she was in Mistral.

Neptune let Weiss dump her things in his guest room and wandered into the kitchen. She dumped her bag on the bed and flopped down next to it, gazing up at the ceiling as she sank into the soft mattress. She reached into a pouch at her belt and pulled out her scroll. For almost the entire flight to Mistral, Weiss had been staring at the screen, waiting. She'd called Ruby and gotten no answer. Though disappointed, Weiss had shrugged it off. It would've been late afternoon in Vale when she'd called—maybe Ruby had been busy. And so she'd waited.

Ruby still hadn't called back. That worried Weiss. She had to have seen the notification by now. But she still hadn't called back. Not even a message. Did Ruby not want to talk to her? Had something happened to Ruby, and she _couldn't_ call back? Weiss fought back the urge to call again. She didn't want to seem pushy. And she had things to do anyway, she couldn't afford to spend the whole day waiting for a phone call that may or may not come.

No matter how much she tried to tell herself that, Weiss couldn't help but stare at the screen forlornly, while the call log blinked at her: _No missed calls. _With a sigh of resignation and a mental kick, Weiss closed the scroll and put it away. _Don't start this, Weiss, _she told herself. _You do _not_ have time. There are more important things to do right now. _Weiss squared her shoulders and left the bedroom, still thinking of Ruby—despite her mental pep-talk.

"How do you like your eggs?" Neptune was standing at the stove, wearing an apron over his clothes and wielding a frying pan.

Weiss froze at the sight and couldn't help but snigger.

"What!?" Neptune cried, outraged.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Weiss gasped.

Neptune looked offended. "The girl at the cooking store said it made me look sexy…"

Weiss burst into laughter. "It's got _kittens on it!_"

"Kittens are cute!"

Weiss sat on a stool at the kitchen bench and hunched over, shaking with laughter. After a few seconds, she sat up and she gasped for breath. Neptune was frowning at her with his hands on his hips, still holding the frying pan. Weiss did her best to contain the next bout of laughter, and settled for a quiet splutter.

"Scrambled, please," she said, as calmly as she could manage. Neptune raised an eyebrow at her, then turned to the stove.

They ate a quick, but surprisingly delicious, breakfast—Neptune _knew_ how to make eggs—and then sat at the bench with mugs of coffee.

"So what's the plan?" Neptune asked, all trace of humour gone. It was time they got started.

Weiss glanced at the clock before replying. Ten thirty. As good a time to start as any.

"I've got _an_ idea of where to start," she said. "But first, I have to ask: you're _sure_ you saw twelve tonnes coming into the city?"

Neptune nodded. "Certain. And that's all I saw. There might be more for all I know, where I couldn't get eyes on it."

Weiss nodded slowly as she thought. "Okay, good. That gives us a starting point."

"And what's that?"

"We go to the Schnee company headquarters in Mistral, and confront them on it."

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "What? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Weiss shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe not. But we have nothing else to go on at the moment. We'll go to the warehouse you saw it delivered to first—scope that area out—then we'll head there and confront them. They'll probably have moved it from the warehouse by now, so we not likely to find anything there—"

"But it can't hurt to check."

"Exactly. If we find anything, then we can re-plan. But if we don't, then we go straight to the HQ and tell them we know. Once we see how they react, we can act from there. If they try to hide it, then we'll know something is _definitely_ going on."

Neptune frowned. "_If_ they try to hide it?"

"Well, if they don't, then I'd like to see their explanation for that much Dust coming in."

"Good point," Neptune said with a chuckle.

Weiss downed the last of her coffee and got to her feet. "Shall we go then?"

Neptune promptly followed suit. "Might as well. No sense wasting daylight."

They grabbed their weapons and headed back to the car. Weiss squinted as Neptune pulled the car out of the parking lot in the building's basement; the sun was much brighter than when they'd arrived. Neptune held out a small pair of sunglasses.

"Here," he said. "You left these here the last time to visited."

Weiss smiled and slipped them on, casting the world in a grey sheen. The car pulled out of the driveway and whipped onto the road. She wound the window down and rested her arm on the door, brushing an errant lock of hair behind her ear with the other hand. Neptune shot her a grin and put his foot down.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, on the other side of the city, the car pulled into the empty lot next to the warehouse. Weiss stepped out of the car and stretched out. She slid Myrtenaster out a few inches and let the sword drop back. She probably wouldn't need it, but it never hurt to be careful.<p>

"So how're we going to do this?" Neptune asked.

Weiss looked at the warehouse, visible through a wire fence running around the property. It was a massive building, at least two hundred metres long and one hundred across. She also knew that, if it was like most Schnee warehouses, it had subterranean floors as well. More volatile forms of Dust needed to be kept in special conditions and it was easier to keep them below ground, where it was colder.

She put her hands on her hips and glanced around. It didn't look like it was heavily guarded, which wasn't really surprising. It was a delivery warehouse; the Dust wasn't meant to stay here more than a few days before being distributed around the city. There might be small amounts of it left, but nothing worth a heavy security force.

"How long ago did you see the shipment get here?" she asked.

"About three days ago? Four?"

Weiss nodded. "Most of the Dust should be shipped out by now. Security will be low until the next shipment gets here."

"So we can sneak in?"

"Might be better than running the risk of tipping them off that I'm here. If we tell a guard who I am and he lets us in, I guarantee the people in charge of the Mistral branch will know within five minutes."

Neptune frowned. "We'd be better off taking them by surprise when we pay them a visit."

"Exactly."

"So we sneak in."

"We sneak in."

Weiss glanced around once more, in case any guards were patrolling nearby, and conjured a glyph beneath their feet. Neptune bent at the knees, standing on the balls of his feet—ready for action—and Weiss activated the glyph, launching them up and over the fence. She landed in a crouch and dashed across the empty clearing in between the fence and the warehouse. There was no cover between them and the building; speed was their best friend for now.

When they reached the shade of the warehouse and pressed their backs against the wall, Weiss cast her gaze upwards. All of the windows were closed. Casting another furtive glance around, Weiss led the way to the back of the building.

She peeked around the corner and saw one guard, walking away from them. The guard reached the far end of the warehouse and glanced back towards them. Weiss jerked back around the corner for a few seconds before cautiously peeking back around. The guard was gone. She waved Neptune up and the two of them dashed around the corner and to the door.

Weiss grabbed the doorknob and was unsurprised to find it locked. She reached into a pouch at her belt and pulled out a Burn pick. It was a small, needle-like device that looked almost identical to a lock-pick, but with a small canister of Burn Dust in the handle. She slipped the pick into the lock of the door and pressed a small button on the end of the handle. The Burn Dust was injected into the lock and quickly burnt the mechanism. The door swung silently open and Weiss and Neptune dashed inside.

"It's empty," Neptune muttered. It was an accurate description. The room before them was immense, but utterly deserted. Not a single crate of Dust was left; the building looked like it had been scoured clean.

"You sound disappointed."

"I thought that, if they were smuggling extra Dust in, they might keep it stored here. Seemed as good a hiding place as any."

Weiss nodded towards a freight elevator in the corner of the room. "There might be some below ground, but I can't imagine security would be this lax if there was."

They hurried to the elevator and Neptune reached out to the button to send it down. Weiss grabbed his arm and shook her head.

"It'll be too loud," she said.

"So how do we get down?"

Weiss walked to the back of the elevator and lifted up a small panel, revealing a ladder leading down the elevator shaft.

She smirked at Neptune. "In case the power goes out," she explained.

Neptune nodded and dropped through the hole. Weiss glanced around as she waited. It was strange that there was nothing left, she thought. There was normally a crate or two left behind, kept as a back-up supply, but now there was nothing. The official manifests had records of ten tonnes coming into the city—when the usual shipment was eight—so they _couldn't _have needed it all right away. There should be _some_ left behind.

_Where is it? _Weiss frowned.

She turned back to the ladder and, after taking a deep breath, stepped into the darkness. There was a light below her, probing back and forth; Neptune had already reached the bottom. Weiss waited until she was a few metres above the bottom of the shaft and conjured a glyph. It slowed her down enough that she could casually step off it and into the hallway leading away from the elevator.

Neptune pointed his flashlight at her for a moment, and Weiss covered her eyes with a hand, wincing.

"Sorry," he muttered, pointing it down the corridor.

Weiss grunted in acknowledgment and headed in the direction the light shone, moving quickly on the balls of her feet. They came to another large door, the only one in the hallway, and stepped through.

The air seemed to instantly grow colder. There were air vents at the top of the room, with burst of mist blowing out of them. This was the cold storage room, for the more unstable Dust. But, like the room above, it was utterly empty.

Neptune swore. "Nothing? At _all_?"

"Relax," Weiss said. "We'll find it."

"There's got to be _something_ here, surely!"

Weiss shook her head. "Look around. You can see it from here: the place is deserted. It's been cleaned out. Come on, let's get out of here."

"Schnee Company headquarters?"

"Yeah. It's all we can do now."

"I hope this works."

"Me too."

* * *

><p>They evaded the guards on the way out as easily as they had on the way in and sped away from the warehouse. Weiss could see the tower in the distance, with the Schnee family crest emblazoned at the top. The building towered over most of the city. It wasn't the tallest skyscraper in Mistral, but it wasn't far off it.<p>

Neptune wove the car through the traffic, and Weiss gazed at all the cars as they sped by. It was another image of normality: people going to and from work, going out for lunch, going shopping. Just living their lives. There were times when Weiss envied these people. They had no idea what dangers lurked outside the walls of their kingdom. They had no idea what was happening _inside_ the kingdom either. Weiss envied them that. They didn't have to worry about it. And it was Weiss' job to keep it that way.

She looked turned back to the front. It was her job to make sure people could live their peaceful lives. Her job to sort out whatever was going on in Mistral.

She glanced upwards as the car came to a stop and couldn't help but feel a little intimidated at the sight of the Schnee office towering over her. It was a daunting prospect though—getting to the bottom of this. If the Schnee company was involved, then this massive tower was what they were up against. They needed to play this smart; there was too much at stake.

The guards at the door eyed them as they stepped inside, but said nothing. Weiss approached the receptionist and put her ID on the counter. The man behind the desk glanced at the ID and up at her face in shock. It wasn't often a member of the Schnee family visited Mistral, and no doubt he was racking his brains for the reason for her visit.

"M-miss Schnee," he stuttered. "W-what a surprise."

"Where's the board?" Weiss asked, her voice firm. Each Schnee company branch was run by a board of six high-level executives, who answered to Weiss' father directly—or, in this case, Weiss.

"They're in a meeting on the top floor at the moment," the man said. "Shall I let them kno—"

"No," Weiss interrupted. "I'll see myself up."

The man opened his mouth to speak again, but Weiss breezed past him before he could get a word out. Neptune followed her with an amused grin. She held her ID card over the sensor in front of the elevator and the doors opened.

"Welcome, Miss Schnee," a computerised, female voice said as they stepped inside.

Weiss pressed the button for the top floor and leant against the wall, folding her arms. They didn't talk as the elevator shot up. They'd discussed their plan of action on the drive and didn't want to risk any cameras overhearing them.

They reached the top floor in less than a minute and stepped casually out of the elevator. Employees shot them confused looks as they stalked towards the large double door that led to the board room.

Weiss burst into the room like a winter storm, and all eyes were on them in a flash. There was a long table in the middle of the room, with the six executives and a secretary sitting around it. The walls to the right and left were made entirely of glass and the right one provided a view of the city, while the wall on the left looked back into the offices. The man sitting at the head of the table, directly across the room from them, was the first to regain his composure.

"Miss Schnee," he said in a voice like ice. "What an unexpected surprise. What're you doing in Mistral?"

Weiss rounded the table and stood to the right of it, in front of the glass wall. Half of the executives were forced to spin around in their chairs to meet her gaze, and most of them still looked confused and shocked at her sudden appearance. Weiss' gaze flickered back towards the door and she saw Neptune slip into the chair at the end of the table nearest the door, leaning back casually. They'd agreed to let her do the talking.

"Tell me about the Dust, gentlemen." If the first man's voice was like ice, then Weiss' was at absolute zero. There was no emotion, no sympathy, no care. She saw at least three of the executives lose all colour in their faces, and the rest shifted in their seats.

_Damn, _she thought. Some part of her had held on to the hope that these men weren't behind whatever was going on, or at least that it was nothing nefarious. But, by the looks on their faces, she knew Neptune had been right: these men were up to something

"What Dust would that be, Miss Schnee?" The man at the head of the table was the first to recover again.

"The official shipping manifests at Schnee Dust Company headquarters in Atlas say that the most recent delivery to Mistral was carrying ten tonnes of Dust. I have it on good authority that the train was carrying twelve. Where did the extra Dust come from? Why was it not reported on official paperwork? Where is it now?"

The man glanced at Neptune for a moment, narrowing his eyes slightly, then turned back to Weiss. She raised an eyebrow at him and waited for his answer. One of the other executives opened his mouth to speak, but the first man shot him a glare that stopped him in his tracks.

"That Dust," the apparent leader of the board began, "was an off-the-books resupply. A portion of the last shipment that came in wasn't usable—the Dust hadn't been kept properly for the journey here—and rather than have evidence of such an error, an extra two tonnes were added to this month's shipment."

Weiss didn't react to his words, but inside she was thrown. She'd been prepared for them to deny it, or give her some petty excuse. The last thing she'd been prepared for was a plausible explanation.

"With _no_ record of it?" she insisted, trying to stay on the attack.

"Your father said he would find a way to balance the books. He didn't want anyone to find out that a Schnee Company delivery had been mishandled. Didn't want the company's reputation tarnished."

_My father did… _Weiss frowned. _He couldn't be involved too, could he? Or is this man telling the truth…? _

"If you came all this way just to investigate such a trifling matter, no matter how _reliable_ your information," the man shot another glare at Neptune, who grinned back. "Then I'm afraid you've wasted your time, Miss Schnee. Everything is accounted for and being dealt with."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. She'd just been dealt one of the least subtle dismissals she'd ever received, and from an employee no less. The urge to snap back, to assert herself over him, nearly overcame her, but she held back. It wouldn't do to embarrass herself before these men further.

She snorted in derision. "Very well. Thank you for your time, gentlemen. I'll be staying in Mistral for the next week or so, so feel free to keep me informed on the situation. I'm sure my father would like to know that everything is going smoothly."

"Of course, Miss Schnee," the man said, all politeness now. "We live to serve."

Weiss turned in a huff and left the room, Neptune hot on her heels. They didn't say a word as they rode the elevator down and left the building. It wasn't until the stepped outside the building that Neptune laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, giving him a quick smile. "Just… wasn't expecting that."

"They're very good liars," he said with a wry grin. "Even I was struggling to stay suspicious."

"Did you plant the bug?" Weiss asked, ignoring Neptune's attempt at a joke.

"Did I plant the bug, she asks?" Neptune threw up his hands in mock exasperation. "With how distracted you made them, a blind Ursa could have planted the bug undetected."

"So you planted the bug?" Weiss said, keeping an utterly straight face.

Neptune gaped at her. "I… Yes. I planted the bug."

Weiss nodded. "Good. Let's go and grab some lunch and hear what they have to say."

They got in the car and drove around the corner to a nearby café. Neptune ordered them food and coffee while Weiss tuned her scroll to pick up the bug's frequency. There was a small crackling noise, with rough voices mixed in. Another small adjustment cleaned it up, and they could hear everything going on in the board room they'd just left.

"But how the _hell_ did she find out!" a voice cried. "This was meant to be utterly secret!"

"It doesn't matter." The man who'd talked to Weiss during their visit spoke in a calm voice. "We just need to make sure she doesn't find out anything _else_. We can't risk this coming to light before we're ready to make our move."

Weiss looked up at Neptune with a horrified expression. They'd been right, and by the sounds of it, it could be bigger than they'd thought.

Another voice piped up. "Should someone go and tell—"

"I'll be going presently," the ringleader interrupted. "For now let's be careful, gentlemen. We shouldn't risk any more meeting on this here, in case she shows up unannounced again. Any and all meetings or discussion of this matter should take place in the warehouse."

There was chorus of agreement, a shuffling of chairs and then silence. The board members had left the room.

"Well, damn." Neptune muttered. "That didn't help."

"We know they're up to something now," Weiss disagreed. "And if we're lucky, we might be able to follow him to whoever they're working with."

They dashed out of the café, leaving behind a confused looking waiter holding two cups of coffee.

Weiss noticed the ringleader getting into a car as they drove around the corner. Neptune had put the roof up on his car, and the windows were tinted, but Weiss couldn't help but slink down in her seat. They slowed down, waiting for him to pull out of the parking space at the front of the building. The man sped out and drove past them, heading the way they'd come. Neptune hissed in frustration and swung the car around, earning him a few outraged honks from other drivers.

They made it around just in time to see their quarry turn the corner and Neptune sped after him, slowing down as he reached the turn. Once the man was far enough away, he rounded the corner and set off after him, staying at least fifty metres behind him.

They stayed behind the man for what felt like an hour, but was more like five minutes. Weiss glanced around as Neptune drove, taking note of where they were heading. The man was driving towards the city's docks, almost the directly away from the warehouse they'd searched earlier.

Weiss jolted forward with a yelp as Neptune slammed the brake on. A large delivery truck had pulled out in front of them. Neptune swore and tried to swerve around the truck, but it was taking up too much space on the road, and he couldn't make it around. He slammed his hands on the steering wheel. Weiss watched the truck pull out agonizingly slowly. Every second the truck was in the way was another second he had to get away.

After far too long, the truck moved enough for Neptune to snake around. He sped down the road, ignoring the angry honks of the truck driver. They reached the end of the road and glanced down each way. There was no sign of their quarry.

"Shit," Neptune cursed. "What do we do now?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I realise that these chapters might seem a little slow, but just hang in there, it's all going to be important. I'm hoping the mystery and the relationships between the characters is keeping everything interesting while I set everything up, but we're getting close. This story is going to explode at some point, and you'll be in for a ride when it does. But what's an explosion without a build up? And I realise I'm throwing a lot of information at you in each chapter, so if any wants me to clarify anything, feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer, as long as it doesn't spoil anything that's going to happen in the story, or if the answer is important to the story.**

**Anyway, as ever, thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated, good or bad, so don't be shy about laying them on me.**

**I'll see you guys in another week!**


	9. Searching for a Sister

As she and Blake walked towards Beacon, all Yang could think about was how glad she was to be home. Her mission abroad had been a good way to blow off steam, but being away from Blake for that long was always hard in its own way. The familiar sights and sounds of her home washed over her, and Yang couldn't help but smile.

She stepped closer to Blake and grabbed the Faunus' hand in her own, interlocking fingers. Blake shot her a smile and squeezed her hand. They walked like this until they stepped onto Beacon's grounds, then Blake extracted her hand and smoothed out her clothes. She always tried to look professional around students.

They crossed the empty grounds—students would be in the middle of their first class—and entered the building where Blake's office was situated. Kelly was already waiting in the office across the hall when they arrived. Yang was often amused by Blake's assistant. She'd never seen anyone so devoted to their job before, and such a mundane job at that.

Kelly followed them into Blake's office and stood almost at attention near the door as Yang flopped onto the lounge.

"Miss Belladonna, I've sent messages to everyone you instructed, requesting their presence here," Kelly said.

"Thank you," Blake said as she sat down behind her desk. "Did you inform our… new contact of what time to be here?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Then that will be all, thank you."

Kelly nodded and turned to leave. She paused for moment and looked at Yang.

"Welcome back, Miss Xiao Long," she said, then she left.

Yang watched her close the door, then looked at Blake. "I like her."

Blake rolled her eyes. "You say that every time she calls you 'Miss Xiao Long'."

"And until I stop liking her for it, I'll keep saying it."

The door opened as Blake chuckled and Ren and Nora strode in. Nora greeted Blake excitedly while Ren nodded politely at Yang. No words of greeting from Ren, just an acknowledgment of her return. Yang nodded back with a smile. She could read the message in the nod—more than just a greeting.

"Thank you for taking care of her," the nod said.

Yang scooted over to the end of the lounge. Nora flopped down next to her and Ren slipped onto the other end of it.

"So what's going on?" Nora asked.

Blake opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the door opening again. Jaune and Pyrrha stepped into the office and Nora threw herself across the room, wrapping her arms around Pyrrha. Ren walked over and shook Jaune's hand; Jaune smiled at seeing his old friend again. Yang glanced at Blake and saw the Faunus lean back in her chair, watching the reunion with a smile.

Over the sound of Nora's excited squeals, Yang heard a gentle knock at the door. The door cracked open and Kelly poked her head in. She caught Blake's gaze and mouthed something to her. Blake waved her in and Kelly pushed the door open, gesturing for someone to enter.

A gigantic hulk of a man appeared in the doorway. He wore no shirt, and was wearing a shield on his back, similar to Jaune's but pitch black. Crimson hair, almost as red as Pyrrha's, hung to his shoulders. Nora gaped at him, staring at his bare chest. Pyrrha looked at him with a confused expression. He certainly looked impressive, but Yang's first reaction was a small scoff. _I could take him, _she thought.

Kelly edged around the room towards Blake's desk, and Yang scooted closer. She brushed her lock of green hair behind her ear as she leant down to Blake.

"I still haven't received a reply from Miss Rose," Kelly said. "I don't know if she'll be coming."

Blake frowned and glanced at Yang, who felt a sinking feeling in her chest. There were only two places Ruby was if she didn't come to anything they invited her to: on a mission, or lying in bed, beaten to a pulp from her last mission. All of their friends were in the room, so if Ruby was on a job, she was out alone. A worm of fear crept into Yang at the thought.

She got to her feet and headed to the door. Blake got halfway out of her chair, moving to follow her, but Yang shook her head.

"I'll go and get her," Yang mouthed, hoping that Ruby was just asleep in her apartment.

Yang noticed Ren glancing between them and gave him a wry smile. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Ruby," she mouthed. He frowned and nodded.

Yang slipped through the door and started down the hallway. The door opened behind her, and she glanced back at the sound. Ren was jogging to catch up with her.

"What're you doing?" she asked, confused.

"Going with you." Ren's voice was resigned, but determined.

She wanted to ask why, but something in Ren's gaze made her realise that he was going to follow her regardless, so instead she shrugged and continued down the corridor.

They left Beacon and got into Ren's car. He sped through the city, his face looking more and more grave with each second. It was strange. Ren had never been so concerned about Ruby before. He was worried about her, of course—they all were—but he'd never seemed so serious about the matter.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

He grunted, but said nothing. Yang let it be. If Ren didn't want to talk, he wasn't going to. Something was different about today, Yang knew that, but she couldn't for the life of her imagine what it was. _Let's just worry about Ruby for now,_ she thought. They needed to make sure she was okay—that nothing had happened to her. Ren's issues could wait.

Traffic slowed them down and set Yang on edge. She ground her teeth harder with every passing minute and by the time they made it to Ruby's apartment half an hour later even Ren was wincing at the sound squeaking out of her mouth.

An old woman walked out of the building as they climbed the stairs, smiling pleasantly at them. The door swung shut behind the woman until Yang dashed forward and grabbed it. Ren nodded at the old woman as he passed and slipped inside. She seemed confused by Yang's sudden lunge, but neither of them wanted to explain that they didn't live there, or that their scrolls wouldn't have let them in, so Yang let the door swing shut and headed for the stairs—the elevators wouldn't work without an authorised scroll.

The hallway at the top floor was deserted, but they tried to make as little noise as possible. The walk to Ruby's door seemed to stretch on forever. She didn't know how she knew, but Yang was already certain that Ruby wasn't there.

Despite the crushing sense of futility, Yang knocked on the door. There was no response.

She knocked harder.

Nothing.

A glance at Ren and a resigned sigh.

She knocked again, this time calling Ruby's name.

Something creaked behind them.

One of Ruby's neighbours was peeking out of his door at them.

"She's not home," he said. "I heard her leaving this morning. Pretty damn early too."

"Any idea where she went?" Ren asked.

He shook his head. "She don't talk much. Certainly don't stop to say where she's heading every day."

"Damn," Ren muttered.

Ruby's door seemed to shrink away from Yang as she stared at it helplessly. Her hand reached out to pull it back—to pull Ruby back—but hesitated an inch from the handle. For weeks Yang had felt like Ruby was slipping away from her, but hadn't known what to do to stop it. She'd been so wrapped up in not knowing what to do that she hadn't even tried. And here she was again, stopping just short of the mark.

Her outstretched hand tightened into a fist. Her fist bruised her thigh as she snapped it back to her side. Ren called her name as she stormed away. The pillar of golden rage marched on. Ren sighed, thanked the man, and followed her down the hall.

Yang burst through the front door with a glare that could impale a Nevermore at twenty paces. She nearly snapped her scroll in half as she tried to get it out of its pouch, then nearly broke it again as she wrenched it open. The Board appeared on the screen at the punch of a finger and Yang smashed her way into the personnel registry. It was the page on the Board that kept track of which Huntsman or Huntress took which job, and had proved very useful for finding Ruby in the past.

The scroll trembled as Yang's fingers tapped the keys with all the tenderness of a rampaging Deathstalker. _Ruby Rose_, she typed. She took a breath, tried to compose herself, failed, and pressed _Search_.

Ren's hand came down on her shoulder as the scroll thought. The small, swirling icon that indicated a search in progress had never seemed more infuriating. Her shoulder shook. The icon swirled.

"_Yang!_" Ren shouted in her ear.

Yang's head shot up and she blinked in surprise. It was rare that Ren raised his voice. He was shaking his head at her, ever so slightly, as if in disbelief.

"Calm down," he said.

Yang looked at him like he was insane. "How am I supposed to—"

"We've found her before," he cut in. "Relax. We'll find her. Look, search complete."

Yang took another breath and tried to calm herself down again. Ren was right. She could feel her hair beginning to smoulder about her shoulders; that was bad. She was just so… _frustrated._ Why did Ruby have to do this all the time? It had been a year, almost to the day, since Weiss left, and not _once_ had she come to Yang for help. She'd never confided in her, never asked Yang to be there for her. And whenever Yang had tried to do it without being asked, Ruby had pushed her away. Weren't they sisters? Weren't they meant to have each other's backs? Both of their mothers were gone, their dad had been busy when they were children, so they'd _always_ been there for each other. Why was this any different?

Yang shook her head and took a deep breath in, closed her eyes, and held it. She counted to ten. Then counted to ten again. And again. When her head started spinning, she gasped and sucked in another breath. Ren was looking at her with concern plastered across his face, but she shook her head and looked at the scroll.

_Ruby Rose_, it read, _on active duty. Mission: Village assistance—training and fortification._

"'Village assistance'?" Ren read. "Does it say where?"

Yang tapped the _More Info_ button and another block of text appeared.

_Mission Assignment: 0500, Today._

_Teammates: None._

_Mission Location: Algard Village._

Ren muttered under his breath, too low for Yang to hear. Her eyes were locked on one line of text in the mission of outline, and she couldn't spare the attention to try and listen.

"Damn it, Ruby!" He spat.

"What is it?" Yang asked half-heartedly. She was still staring at the screen.

"She promised me that she wouldn't _do_ this anymore!" Ren was furious. Yang could hear the venom in his voice.

"What…?" She muttered, still distracted.

"Yang, I'm sorry." Ren said, his voice suddenly much gentler. "This is all my fault."

Ren's voice faded away. Yang stared at the screen.

_Teammates: None._

Ruby was out there alone. A shiver ran down Yang's spine. Ruby had up and left without telling anyone, out to some village gods knew where, alone. _What the hell was she thinking?_

"Yang!" Ren's voice buzzed like a fly. "Are you okay?"

The world seemed to contract. The edges of her vision faded to black. Ren's voice faded away. It was still there, but was almost unnoticeable in its irrelevance. Yang felt a fire burning around her. The image of Ruby's face made it burn all the hotter. _When did Ruby become so _stupid_?_ Yang screamed silently.

Something shook her. Yang nearly lashed out at the interruption before she recognised Ren, his face a picture of concern. She forced the flames down, pushed her fury aside. _We've got other things to deal with for now,_ she told herself. _You can get angry at Ruby when she's home safe._

Ren took a step forward as the flames dwindled and reached out to her. "Yang—"

"I'm fine," she said, holding a hand out to stop him.

"Are you sure?"

Yang took a breath, stood as straight as she could and nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that. What were you saying?"

Ren watched her for a few seconds longer, still obviously concerned, but he eventually nodded. "I'm sorry, Yang," he said finally, his voice laden with guilt.

She frowned, confused. "For what?"

He sighed. "This… Ruby… Her going away is probably my fault."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "How could it be your fault?"

"I… had a talk to her yesterday, while we were out culling Grimm. Told her that what she was doing was hard on all of us and that she needed to take some time off to recover. That she couldn't keep going into the forests alone all the time, where she's liable to get killed."

Yang listened in silence. It was everything they'd all thought about Ruby, but no one had before had the guts to say it aloud to one another, let alone to Ruby herself.

"I told her about how hard it's been for all of us, and all she did was get angry. She thinks we don't believe in her anymore, and that we think she can't handle herself. She said she'd try and be… safer. That she'd try and make things easier for everyone, but I guess she decided to prove to us that she can take care of herself—"

"And that way we'd stop worrying about her," Yang finished with a sigh. "That sounds like Ruby alright. Damn it!"

Ren flinched. "Sorry! I didn't know."

Yang shook her head. "I'm not angry at you. Just at her. You couldn't have known she'd do something like this."

"But you said yourself, that sounds exactly like what Ruby would do."

She sighed. "What's done is done, Ren. Don't beat yourself up over it. Let's just focus on getting my _dumbass_ of a sister back alive." Even though she was the one that made the wisecrack, Yang couldn't help but shudder at the idea of Ruby lying dead in a field somewhere. They _needed_ to get her back alive. They _would._ _No room for doubt,_ she told herself. _No time for despair; not while there's hope. _The mantra she'd used so many times before calmed her once again.

"So," she said, "any idea where this Algard village is?"

Ren hesitated, then nodded. "I think so. It sounds familiar, but I'll check and make sure." He pulled out his own scroll and typed the village into the search engine. While it loaded, he glanced up again. "If it's where I think it is, you won't like it."

"I won't like it regardless," Yang muttered.

Ren's screen flashed white as the page loaded, and he swore under his breath. "Yeah, there it is. Eastern edge of the Western Dragon."

"Oh gods _damn_ it, Ruby Rose!" Yang swore. "Why the hell would she go that far?"

"To get away from us," Ren said with a sigh. "Even if we go after her, she's got more than enough time to do whatever she's set out to do."

Yang mumbled curses of varying severity and enough blasphemous descriptions of the gods to make a priest cry. "Let's get back to Beacon," she finally said.

Ren nodded. "And then what?" he asked as they approached the car.

"I'll check the airship schedules on the way and find the earliest time I can book a flight there."

Ren raised an eyebrow at her over the roof of the car. "'I'?" he asked.

Yang nodded as she opened the door. "Yeah, 'I'. I'm going alone. I'm sick of all this. It's time Ruby and I had a sister-to-sister talk."

* * *

><p>Ren and Yang had parted ways upon arriving at Beacon. He had climbed the steps to Beacon, mentioning something about Nora, while Yang had walked back to her and Blake's apartment. Now, two hours later, she was sitting at the kitchen bench with a small bag at her feet, cleaning Ember Celica, when the door opened.<p>

Blake stopped at the end of the hallway for a moment, watching.

"You're going after her, aren't you?" she asked, her voice sombre.

Yang didn't look up from her work, but nodded. "Someone has to."

"And of course it had to be you…" A hint of bitterness crept into Blake's voice.

Yang stopped, set down the wire brush and turned towards her agitated wife. "Yes." Her voice was firm, unyielding. "It has to be me."

"I know," Blake sighed. "I just wish you didn't have to go. You just got back."

"She's my sister," Yang said, her voice turning angry. "I'm not going to let her run off on her own and just not worry about her, not with the state she's in."

Blake held up her hands in an attempt to placate her. "I know, I know. I'm not telling you not to go."

Yang grunted and turned back to her disassembled weapon. "How'd the meeting go?"

"Alright," Blake replied. She opened the refrigerator as she spoke and pulled out a jug of water. "Pyrrha was… sceptical, but agreed to help us look into it. Jaune and Nora both agreed to help pretty much right away, though you'd need a rampaging Goliath to stop Nora—she seemed so excited by the idea."

Yang chuckled quietly to herself. That sounded like Nora. Blake filled a glass with water and held the jug out towards Yang, an unspoken question in her eyes. When Yang nodded, she filled a second glass and slid it along the counter.

"Sorry I won't be here to help…" Yang said as she raised the glass to her lips.

Blake shook her head. "It's fine. It's probably not a bad thing having less people rooting around. We can be more subtle that way. The seven of us can handle it."

Yang quickly counted in her head. "Seven? I thought it was just you, JNPR and the block of muscle."

The Faunus rolled her eyes, clearly agitated. "Well that was the plan. But apparently Raud had told Kelly what was going on, thinking that we'd let her in on the plan because she's my assistant."

"You don't trust her?" Yang was surprised; Blake had only ever spoken highly of Kelly.

"It's not that." Blake shook her head. "I just didn't want to get her involved. It's not fair on her to be dragged into it against her will if it all goes sideways. But she seemed willing enough when we brought her in, so I guess it worked out alright."

Yang nodded as she scrubbed at one last smear of dirt, her tongue poked out in concentration. "That's good," she mumbled. "Keep me posted, yeah?"

"Of course," Blake replied with a smile. "As long as you do the same." She downed the last of her water and set the glass gently on the counter. "So when do you leave?"

Yang glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "A couple of hours." She inspected her chaotic pile of weapon parts and, once satisfied with their cleanliness, rapidly reassembled them. The gauntlets shrunk down to bracelets, which she slipped around her wrists with a satisfied smile. Blake was watching her with sadness in her eyes, so Yang shot her a smile. "Do you want to go out for lunch before I go?"

Blake's smile didn't quite reach her eyes, but it was a small improvement. "Sure."

Yang swung her travel bag over her shoulder and wrapped an arm around Blake, kissing her briefly on the lips before heading for the door. Blake took a moment to slip Gambol Shroud onto her back and lock the apartment door before leading the way down to the basement garage.

The sped out onto the streets and cruised through the city to their favourite restaurant. It was early afternoon by now, and the street were empty by Vale's peak hour standards. Most people had finished their lunch break and returned to work, leaving the city looking a little deserted. There were people milling back and forth on the sidewalks, going about their business, but everything just seemed… quiet.

There were only two tables taken when they arrived at the restaurant; the quietest they'd ever seen the place. The crimson walls of the room seemed so much larger with no one else to crowd in the room. The maître 'd led them to their usual table near the window, away from the other patrons who were sitting under the crystal chandelier in the centre of the room, and they ordered their usual dishes. Once their waiter headed to the kitchen, Yang turned to Blake and enfolded the Faunus' hand in her own.

"So," she said as she stroked Blake's hand with a thumb. "What's your plan of action?"

Blake glanced around furtively before replying in a low voice. "Do you really want to talk about this here?"

Yang shrugged. "I never heard the details. Might as well."

After another brief glance around the room, Blake shrugged. "Well, we split up into teams. Jaune and Raud are investigating the docks and the warehouses around there. Nora and Pyrrha are keeping an eye on any incoming or outgoing freight trains or trucks and the warehouses on that side of the city. Ren is doing his… thing. He didn't really say what, just that he'd ask around—see what he could come up with. Kelly and I are investigated around Beacon, seeing if anything odd crops up in our records, as well as city council manifests and the like."

Yang was watching her thumb, still sliding back and forth along the skin of Blake's hand, but was listening closely enough to smile. "Sounds like you got the boring job," she chuckled.

Blake shrugged. "Yeah, well, they had a valid reason for it—"

"'They'?" Yang laughed. "They made you do it?"

Blake shot Yang a half-serious glare. "Shut up," she said with a pout. That's how Yang knew she was joking. Blake never pouted. "I'm the only one that works as part of Beacon's faculty. So I'm the only one that _can_ look through there without looking immediately suspicious."

Yang raised her free hand placatingly. "Okay, good point. I'll give them that."

Blake pouted again, but broke into a laugh seconds later. Once their laughter petered off, they gazed into each other's eyes and Yang was struck by a realization of how lucky she was. _What were the odds, _she asked herself, _of finding her? Of finding someone so damn _perfect_?_ She smiled lovingly at Blake, who returned it in kind.

The waiter appeared at the table, carrying their meals, and they broke apart. They ate quietly, only engaging in simple small talk now and then, just enjoying one another's company. Other patrons arrived while they ate, and another group left, but the pair ignored them. As they often tried to do, they shut the world out. Forgot their troubles, forgot about Yang's impending departure, and just relished one another's presence.

Too soon, they left. There was still time before Yang's flight, so they got ice-cream and just cruised through the city. Blake took Yang to her favourite spot: a small park on a hillside with a breathtaking view of Vale harbour. The sun danced on the surface of the water, and seagulls glided back and forth. The centrepiece though, for Yang at least, was the view of Patch, sitting alone in the water. A sight of home was always reassuring before a trip away. Yang smiled at the sight and kissed Blake in thanks. The Faunus' lips tasted sweet; a blend of strawberries and chocolate.

Eventually though, they left. Beacon wasn't far from the park, so they made it there with half an hour before Yang's flight. They waited in the terminal until the airship landed, then stepped out onto the platform. Wind blew their hair around, but didn't distract them from gazing into one another's eyes again.

Their lips met, and they said goodbye. As Yang turned to leave, Blake's hand grabbed hers and she turned back.

"Bring her back safe."

Yang nodded.

"I promise."


	10. Trembling

It was the middle of the afternoon, and a cool breeze was blowing in from Vale's harbour, carrying with it a scent of salt, fish and industrial grease. Men and women scurried around the foreshore in the industrial area of the harbour, transporting loads of imported goods, tools, workers, and pretty much anything one would expect to see in a harbour—as well as a few not-so-expected items.

A dog yapped at Jaune from the cabin of a passing forklift and continued to yap as it faded into the mass of people and vehicles that covered the foreshore. The perplexed Huntsman watched it speed away with a look of confusion reminiscent of that often worn by fish after they feel a sharp jab and find themselves flopping pitifully on the shore.

Something nudged him out of his idle befuddlement. Jaune shook his head in an attempt to clear it before turning to his newfound companion.

Raud Geisa was certainly an imposing figure. Jaune couldn't think of anyone he'd met in his life that was as immediately threatening as him, nor anyone that could drive a room to utter silence by simply walking through the door. Besides all that though, he seemed like a nice guy. He was watching Jaune with an amused smile. Not a condescending amusement, but a good-natured one. Jaune got the feeling that if he knew what Raud was grinning about, he'd laugh too.

"You alright, bud?" Raud asked, not a trace of concern in his voice. That was another about Raud, he instantly assumed he was friends with anyone he met. Some would find that odd, or annoying, but Jaune found it refreshing. There was no awkward getting-to-know-each-other period; they could just get on with what needed doing and let the getting to know each other happen along the way.

"Yeah," Jaune said with a small smile. "I'm fine. Just…" He trailed off as his eyes drifted back to the direction the dog had gone.

"Scared of a puppy?" Jaune could hear his laughter bubbling under the surface of his otherwise calm voice.

Jaune felt himself backed into a conversational corner and, despite the burning desire to get the last word, was forced to give Raud the point.

He rolled his eyes. "Very funny. Let's go."

Raud's laugh rang out behind him as he crossed the street. It drew the attention of a few passers-by, whose eyes became several times larger and glued to him as he followed Jaune. Not the best companion for a covert investigation, Jaune realised.

A female voice called out to Raud from Jaune's left, asking for his number and if he was free later. Jaune ignored it and took the next few steps a little faster than he normally did. It wasn't the first time it had happened—and he and Raud had only met a few hours ago. It was clearly a regular occurrence for him, though Jaune didn't know how the man could handle it. Jaune felt awkward standing too close to Raud when he got that sort of attention; the thought of being the target of it made him shiver. He tried to block out Raud's response as he sped towards the next warehouse—he heard something about costing too much—and knocked firmly on the door to the warehouse office.

"Coming! Coming!" a voice called. "Won't be a moment!"

Raud had rejoined Jaune by the time the door swung open, revealing a man dressed in a messy suit and tie, who stood slightly shorter than Jaune and significantly shorter than Raud. His face was red and his breath was ragged.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" he panted.

Jaune tried to respond, but Raud cut in first. "Gentlemen?" he laughed. "I haven't seen any of those in a long time."

The man gave Raud an agitated look—it quickly turned to one of terror—and turned back to Jaune, looking several shades paler.

"Sorry," Jaune began. "Don't mind him. We were just wondering if we could talk to you for a little while—"

"About what?" the man interjected, suspicion creeping into his voice. "Who are you? What do you want?"

Jaune glanced Raud for a second before continuing. "We're from Beacon, sir. Just running some checks on recent imports and exports of Dust. We were just speaking to the gentleman across the road and he mentioned that—"

"Terry!? What'd he say? He was lying! Look, I told the police that incident with the bananas wasn't my fault! Who was to know they'd react like that?"

"No, sir, we just… Wait, what?" Jaune was looking was bemused as he had at the dog, and the sound of Raud stifling a laugh didn't help the situation.

"I _told_ them last week," the man continued, unfazed, but Jaune raised a hand to cut him off.

"We're here about Dust, sir, not… bananas."

The man blinked. "Oh… Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Oh… right. Well then, come in." He stepped away from the door and waved Jaune and Raud inside.

The office was a mess. There was paper lying almost everywhere one could fit a piece of paper. The man picked up two stacks and moved them off what Jaune realised were chairs.

"Sit down. Sit down," the man said. He seemed very cheerful and welcoming now. "So what can I do for you?" he asked as he sat in his own chair.

Jaune sat down in one of the newly vacated seats, but Raud moved to the side of the office and peered between stacks of paper into the main area of the warehouse.

"Nothing overly important," Jaune began. "We're just going from warehouse to warehouse, inquiring about the city's Dust levels."

"Dust?" The man frowned. "What's there to investigate?"

Jaune repeated the story they'd come up with at their meeting that morning. "Well, as you no doubt know, we've been having a bit of a Dust shortage in recent months." The man nodded. "Ah, good. One less thing to explain. Well we're just trying to see how much is _actually _being stored in our warehouses. We have manifests and lists, but we're just making a manual count to be safe. We've been getting by despite the shortage, but things are getting a little dicey in some areas of the city. Once we know exactly how much there is, and where its stored, we can sort out reallocations and redistributions."

The man was still frowning, but nodded along with Jaune's explanation.

"So," Jaune continued. "We just need to know how much Dust you have on hand, and when you had your last delivery. Oh, and your last outgoing shipment."

"There's none here," Raud said without turning around. Jaune shot him a look.

"I'm afraid he's right," the manager said, drawing Jaune's gaze back. "I haven't seen a grain of Dust here for at least a month. I never used to get much anyway."

"Oh…" Jaune glanced out the window Raud had been standing at. "Well, sorry we wasted your time."

The man waved off the apology. "No, no. Not at all. I'm sorry to have been of so little help. For what it's worth though," he added as he got out of his chair. "I've got a receipt here… somewhere…" Papers rustled and stacks fell to the floor but, eventually, the man waved a piece of paper triumphantly in the air. "This is the receipt for my last outgoing order of Dust. It's a bit dated—the delivery was so long ago—but it might help. You never know."

"Thank you." Jaune took the paper, glancing over it briefly before folding it up and tucking it in a pocket. "Uh… Sorry for taking up your time." He got to his feet. Raud turned away from the window and headed for the door.

"Not at all," the man said with a smile. "Glad I could be of some assistance."

Jaune nodded again and followed Raud outside.

"Well that was a damn waste of time," Raud muttered. "Where do we go now?"

Jaune sighed. "Well we've covered almost all of the warehouses around here and have just about nothing to show for it. So… I don't know."

Raud laughed bitterly. "Where did that last Dust shipment go? On the receipt."

Jaune pulled the paper out and passed it to Raud, then turned towards the harbour. He gazed out to sea, losing himself in the lights dancing on the water's surface. _What _do_ we do now? Everything seems… normal. _He sighed. Blake _had_ said that she wasn't yet convinced anything was wrong. Maybe they were chasing shadows that weren't really there. It wouldn't be the first time.

Jaune turned around as he heard Raud grunt. "What is it?"

"He wasn't kidding about not getting much Dust. His last shipment was a quarter tonne of Freeze Dust to an ice-skating rink. Very small-time."

"An ice-rink?" Jaune stepped closer and Raud handed him back the receipt. He browsed it with more care than he had the first time and was surprised at what he saw.

"This… This isn't too far from here. We could go and check it out."

Raud raised an eyebrow. "Why? It's an ice-rink. They'd have used the Dust they got from this guy by now, and have gotten another shipment from somewhere else. Do you know how quickly those places burn through Freeze Dust?"

"N-no… Do you?"

"Of course not! I don't ice-skate! What's wrong with you?"

"Oh you just seemed so sure…"

Raud rolled his eyes. "Well one thing I _am_ sure of is that there's no reason to go there. It's an ice-rink. They get Dust, use it, and then get more, and then use that. There's nothing nefarious going on there."

Jaune pursed his lips in thought. "B-but what if—"

"Gods! If you want to go, then go. All I'm saying is: there's no point."

"Okay, okay. We'll just keep looking at warehouses." He slipped the receipt back into his pocket. "I'll give this to Blake when we get back. I'm sure she'll want a—"

The ground shook. Jaune glanced around hurriedly, but saw nothing moving nearby that could have caused it. Then the tremors intensified, and he staggered to one knee. Raud stood in place, with his feet apart. The red-haired man seemed vaguely concerned, but showed no reaction other than that. Jaune tried to pick himself up, but fell back down immediately.

Somewhere, a woman screamed, and Jaune glanced around. More voices mixed into the scream, shouts of alarm and cries of pain. The strength of the earthquake increased again, and Raud stumbled to the ground. Jaune tensed in fear as he heard a violent crack. The road near his foot was cracking, forced upwards by the force of the tremors.

A loud screech echoed around them and Jaune looked up just in time to see a forklift sliding along the foreshore on its side, sparks flying. He wanted to get up, to help, but he couldn't get higher than an awkward squat without falling back down. Gritting his teeth, Jaune hunkered down to wait the quake out. But it only got stronger.

The crack in the road spread towards a nearby warehouse, and the wall of the building cracked as the ground shifted. There were more screams and Jaune tried to push himself up once more. He made it a step before falling on his side.

"Stop it!" Raud yelled. "There's nothing you can do!"

"No!" Jaune screamed back. "I have to do _something_!"

Another scream pushed Jaune to get to his feet again. Another tremor threatened to sweep his feet from under him, but he put his hands down to steady himself as his feet slipped and managed to stay upright. Taking one slow step at a time, Jaune edged onwards, towards the cries. It seemed to get easier as he went on, and it wasn't long before Jaune realised that the tremors were getting weaker. He stood and tried to run, only to stagger into a wall. He cried out in frustration as the screams went on, and he _still_ couldn't get there. People needed help, and he was supposed to provide it.

"Damn it!" he roared. A power pole crashed into the ground next to him and showered him with sparks as the transformer on top of it was smashed to pieces. Jaune shied away, covering his face, and was knocked over when something else, unseen, slammed into his back. The wall he'd been leaning on was kind enough to stop him, by slamming into his face, and he fell backwards, dazed.

"Get up!" a voice cried. It sounded like it was coming through a poorly tuned radio; Jaune could barely make any sense of it. The world spun around him, but he caught sight of something massive rushing towards him. The ground shifted as he tried to get to his feet, to get away, and he fell, defenceless.

Then something was pulling him. He flew away from the shadow that was tumbling towards him and landed on something only marginally softer than the ground. The world slowed it spinning and Jaune's vision gradually cleared. He glanced back at the building he'd slammed into and felt his throat suddenly go dry. The entire wall of the building had collapsed and smashed apart on the ground.

"You alright, bud?" the voice asked. Now that Jaune's head had cleared, he realised it was Raud.

"Y-yeah," he stuttered, still overwhelmed from his close brush with death. "I… I think so."

"Great. Then can you get off me?" Jaune glanced down and, sure enough, Raud was smiling up at him. The red-haired man shifted and bucked Jaune off and onto the ground, dusted himself off and got to his feet.

That was when Jaune realised that the earthquake had stopped. He put a hand on his knee and pushed himself up but before he could straighten, his head spun again and he fell back to the ground.

"Don't try and get up." Suddenly, Raud was kneeling beside him, with a hand on his shoulder. "You hit your head pretty hard back there. We should get you checked out."

Jaune wanted to deny it, he wanted to get back up and help the people that had been screaming—which had stopped, he noticed—but his head was pounding now. Everything seemed to be cast in a shade of red that pulsated with each throb. With a groan, Jaune laid back and gazed up at the slowly reddening sky. He pulled his scroll out of his pocket and slid it open. He tried to reach out with a thumb to press the _Contacts_ button, but the scroll slipped out of his grip and fell. Raud caught it and stood up.

"Who?"

Jaune groaned again and slung one of his arms over his eyes—the sun was starting to hurt his eyes. "Pyrrha."

"You got it, boss."

Jaune closed his eyes as heard the faint sound of a dial tone and tried to mentally quash the constant thudding in his head.

"It's Raud…" Pyrrha hadn't taken long to pick up. "No, no. Jaune's alright. He hit his head pretty bad, but he's still conscious. We'll get him checked out at Beacon, and he'll be right as rain."

"H-how is she?" Jaune called out. "And Nora."

"Are you and the fuzzball…? Good." He lowered the scroll slightly and turned towards Jaune. "They're fine; no damage."

Jaune sighed with relief.

"So can you guys come by? I don't think Jaune will be able to walk back to Beacon in his state. What? … No, he'll be _fine_. A hit to the head like that would knock anyone off his feet for a while. Just… Okay… Okay… Yes… Well _he's_ not going anywhere… Sorry. Battlefield humour: it's always been a flaw of mine… Alright. See you then." There was a click as Raud ended the call. "They're on their way. Shouldn't be long."

Jaune nodded. A wave of nausea had just swept over him, and he didn't trust himself to open his mouth.

"You okay?"

Jaune started to nod, but shook his head instead. The nausea was fading away, but shaking his head made the thudding pain flare up, and he groaned.

"Ah, you'll be alright." Raud patted him on the shoulder and handed back the scroll before getting to his feet and looking around. "Are earthquakes this frequent in Vale? The city doesn't seem built for them."

Jaune shook his head. "Not… really." Speaking was almost as painful as shaking his head, but he forced himself on. "Grimm attacks used to be… more common… until… a few months… ago."

"Huh… That's strange." Raud's voice sounded thoughtful. Jaune grunted in acknowledgement. "I'm going to head over there," Raud continued. "See if anyone needs any help. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

Jaune would have glared at the man if he could, but instead he settled for another grunt. Raud walked away with a laugh. "Ah, I kill myself sometimes," the man chuckled as he left Jaune behind.

Silence fell over Jaune, and he sighed. _Damn it,_ he thought. _Typical me. Injured by a gods-damned _wall_. How do I keep doing this?_ He laid in the road and stewed in his incompetence for what felt like years.

His silence broke when a car pulled up nearby. Now, looking back at those years of mulling over his failures, it seemed like seconds. He groaned. _I can't even judge time anymore. How hard did I hit my head?_

"_Jaune_! Jaune, are you okay!" a voice cried, layered with fear. _Pyrrha_, he realised. He raised a hand, and smiled as she wrapped it in both of hers.

"'M fine," he muttered.

"You look like hell," Pyrrha muttered.

Jaune chuckled. "Nothing new." His head flared in agony as Pyrrha whacked him.

"Where's the big guy?" Nora's voice called out.

Jaune lowered his arm and, despite the pain, looked around. Raud was nowhere to be seen. "He said he was going to see if people needed help."

Pyrrha sighed. "Nora, can you go and look for him?"

"Aye, aye!" Nora saluted and took off at a run down the street.

An arm squeezed under Jaune's shoulders and lifted him into a sitting position. "Come on," Pyrrha said. "Let's get you in the car."

Jaune groaned as she lifted him to his feet. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and they edged towards the car. By the time she lowered him into the back seat, they heard a shout. Nora was running towards them, alone.

"He's not coming," she called out as she approached. She reached the front of the car and came to a stop. "He said he's going to stay and help out here."

Pyrrha nodded and closed Jaune's door. They both got in the front seat and Jaune toppled onto his side, laying across the back seat. The car started and Pyrrha swung it in a U-turn before speeding away from the coast, towards Beacon.

* * *

><p>The sun cast the room in an orange glow as it sank towards the horizon. A shaft of light shone through a gap in the curtains and fell on Jaune's sleeping face. There was one bed in the small ward, with chairs on either side. Pyrrha watched the peaceful, relaxed face of her slumbering husband and smiled. She reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind his ear. He shifted at her touch, mumbling something indiscernible.<p>

The door creaked as it opened and Pyrrha turned to see Raud stepping quietly into the room. He paused as he met her gaze, but quickly recovered and stepped inside. The door clicked shut behind him as he slipped into the empty chair across the bed.

"How is he?" the red-haired man asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"Fine," Pyrrha replied, turning her gaze back to Jaune. "The doctor said he'll be back to normal by tomorrow." Raud breathed a sigh of relief. "How are things at the docks? You weren't gone as long as I thought you'd be."

The big man grunted. "Not great, but the workers there said they could handle it. I helped shift some debris around, but they didn't need much more than that."

Pyrrha looked at the man and frowned. "Well that couldn't have taken two hours…"

"Knucklehead and I found out about an ice-rink not far from the foreshore that received a delivery of Dust a while ago. I didn't think anything would be there, but he wanted to check it out anyway. I decided to take a look on the way home."

"Find anything?"

He shook his head. "The place shut down a couple of weeks ago apparently. Seems pretty run down now. No Dust there. How about you and the fuzzball? Find anything in your part of the city?"

"No," Pyrrha sighed. "Nothing out of the ordinary at least. Though from what we saw, the city's Dust supplies are worse than we thought. None of the warehouses we went to had _any_ Dust. I can understand a few having shipped it off to businesses and facilities that need it, but _none_ of them? I just don't know where it's all going."

"Did the warehouses have any proof of delivery receipts?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Everything _seemed_ in order but… I can't imagine that there's no Dust stored in the city. We can't be running _that_ low."

Raud hummed as he pursed his lips in thought. "Maybe we're looking on the wrong side of the wall." Pyrrha frowned. "Maybe, if there's less than there should be in the city, the Dust is being smuggled _out_."

"Why would anyone be smuggling Dust out of the city? We've barely had enough to keep ourselves running for months now."

"So maybe they've been smuggling it out for months now…"

The realisation struck Pyrrha like a thunderclap. He was right… They'd been running low on Dust for months, for no apparent reason. The Dust suppliers had stated that there were issues in the mines, and less refinable Dust was being recovered. But Pyrrha and Jaune had spent the last week in a Dust mining town that, other than the attacks from the Black Talon, had been functioning as normal.

"Or maybe," she muttered, "it's not get smuggled out. Maybe it's getting smuggled _away_ before it even gets in the walls."

Raud grinned. "Ah, clever. I like it. Now _that's_ something to look into."

Pyrrha got to her feet. "I should go and tell Blake…." She trailed off as she looked down at the immobile form of her husband. Raud noticed her guilty look and patted Jaune on the arm.

"Go," he said. "I'll sit with the knucklehead for a while."

"Are… are you sure?"

He grinned, flashing his teeth. "O' course. Go on. He'll be here when you get back."

"Thank you," Pyrrha said. "I won't be long." She dashed into the corridor outside, nearly bowling over a nurse. Leaving apologies trailing behind her, Pyrrha dashed through the infirmary. Blake needed to hear this new development, and quickly. Pyrrha was finally convinced that something was going on in the city, and now she was as determined as the Faunus to stop it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Apologies for the late release. I've had a busy few days, though that's not really an excuse as I really _should_ have been prepared for them. But, nevertheless, a chapter is here. Hope you enjoyed it.**

**And my sincerest apologies to lochnessmonsta8. Sorry for ruining your Friday. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. ;)**


	11. Determination

**A/N: Never let it be said that the holidays prevented me from releasing a chapter. And not only that, but the longest chapter I've released of A Red Stained Remnant so far. Hope you guys enjoy it. And Happy Holidays. :)**

* * *

><p>It was dark when Ruby arrived in Algard village. She'd ridden an intercontinental airship from Vale to the airbase on the Eastern coast of the Western Dragon, then a smaller airship from there to the outskirts of the village itself. She jumped to the ground and sucked in a lungful of fresh, clean air. After being so used to the smell of Vale, the air here smelt… cleaner.<p>

An attendant called out to her from the airship, and she turned back. "The village is just at the bottom of the hill here," the man called out. "The village Elder will be waiting for you at the gate. We'll be back in a couple of days to pick you up. Good luck, Miss Rose."

Ruby nodded, and the man swung the airship's door shut. She watched the ship take off, the downward rush of air making her hair dance frantically, and turned away as it blended into the night sky.

The village was visible from where she stood, though only as a collection of lights in the distant. Still, she was grateful for that; the clouds had covered the moon and stars, and it was pitch black around her. Taking in another breath, Ruby searched the area around her with her aura, searching for any signs of Grimm. She'd always been less adept at that than Ren or Blake, but she could sense danger coming from within a twenty five metre radius, which was better than nothing—especially on a night like this.

She couldn't sense anything. Keeping her aura active nevertheless, she started down the gentle slope. At the nearest edge of the village, there was a smaller light visible, illuminating two figures.

She stopped as a gust of wind blew past. Her hair whipped in her face, and Ruby raised a hand to hold it back. Her jacket waved up and down as the wind blew it back, flitting about like her old cape had. Ruby took the moment to pause and appreciate how awesome she looked—if only anyone had been around to see it.

Catching herself, Ruby quashed the childish voice in her mind. _Stop it,_ she admonished her childish inner voice. _I don't have time for that any more. I need to be mature… dependable. The only reason I'm here is to prove I can look after myself._ And so, mentally slapping herself, Ruby headed down the hill once more.

At the base of the hill, Ruby found the village gate. Looking left and right, she saw that the village was encircled in a ten-metre-high, solid stone wall. The gate was forged of steel, and was the only break she could see in the wall. Though, in this light, she couldn't see very far.

The gate was open, and an old man and woman were waiting just outside it. The man was holding an oil lantern and peering into the gloom. _That's weird_, Ruby thought. _Who still uses lanterns?_ The woman was standing at the man's side, leaning on an ornately carved wooden staff.

Taking a breath, Ruby stepped into the ring of light. The eyes of the watchers latched onto her in an instant. They didn't move—didn't react at all—but the intensity of their gazes stopped Ruby in her tracks. They _were_ old but Ruby could tell by their eyes alone that they were warriors. Looking at them with fresh eyes, it was easy to notice their muscular frame. The man stood with a slight hunch, but his broad shoulders and thick arms hinted at a strength and willingness to fight, even at his age. His hand hovered inches from the hilt of a sword at his belt and his eyes turned away to scan the darkness around them.

"Well met, Huntress," the woman said. The voice snapped Ruby out of her hesitation, and she stepped forward. The woman walked forward to meet her, leaving her companion at the gate. He didn't react, just continued to search the surrounding gloom.

"Well met indeed," the woman continued with a smile. She looked as powerful as the man accompanying her. She carried no weapons but her staff, but something about the way she carried herself told Ruby that the staff was enough. "Thank you for coming."

Ruby smiled back and shook her head. "Thank you for having me." _It gave me an excuse to get away, after all. _"Though I still don't really know what it is I'm meant to do here…"

The woman nodded and turned back to the gate. "Come inside, we can talk in safety."

The man was still staring into the darkness, unmoving. He blinked when the woman laid a hand on is shoulder, but, other than that, showed no reaction.

"Burr?" The woman's voice was full of concern. The man grunted at her use of what Ruby guessed was his name.

"They're coming," he said. "Not close, but closing in."

"Can you see?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. Just signs of approach."

The woman sighed. "We'll post an extra guard tonight."

"And make sure the others keep their blades close at hand." The man finally turned his head away from the night and looked at the woman. She nodded at him and stepped through the gate. His gaze turned to Ruby, and the Huntress froze. There was something almost hawk-like about the man's eyes. It felt like he was staring right through her, seeing every crack—every vulnerability.

He nodded. "Well met, Huntress." Then he stepped through the gate, and Ruby could breathe again. She followed them into the village and, as the gates slammed shut behind her, the man spoke again. "If they haven't attacked by the morning, I'll send Odin to clear them out—or drive them away."

The woman, who Ruby now realised was the Elder of the village, nodded. "Send him with his team," she added. "The Huntress can accompany them." Both of their gazes turned on her, and Ruby smiled nervously.

"W-what?"

The Elder smiled. "Walk with me, Huntress. There is much to discuss. Burr, go now. No doubt your wife worries." He glanced at Ruby once again before bowing and taking his leave. The Elder watched him go and, once he passed out of sight, laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Come, Huntress."

"Call me Ruby."

The Elder smiled. "Ruby…" she muttered, as if trying it out. "A good name. Well, Ruby, I am Ymir. None in the village may call me by name, but feel free to yourself."

Ruby frowned. "Is that… okay?"

Ymir laughed. "Of course. It'll be refreshing to be called by name for once. Think nothing of it, child."

Ruby winced slightly at being called _child_, but smiled at Ymir's good humour. "Well then, Ymir, what exactly is it that I'm doing here?"

* * *

><p>The Elder walked Ruby through the village, explaining their history as she went. For generations, the village had stood in the middle of the darkness of Remnant. Beset on all sides by Grimm, the people had fought tooth and nail for everything that stood within the walls. Because they were in nearly constant conflict, and weren't exactly a large community, everyone in the village was expected to fight. The only ones exempted were children too small to fight, and women that were with child.<p>

The men, the women, the young, and the old. Everyone fought. Ruby had noticed on their walk that there were very few elderly people among the population, but Ymir had explained that rather simply: the older a citizen was, the more they were expected to fight. It wasn't the old growing too weak for battle, and being forced to fight anyway, that resulted in their death. The people of the village weren't allowed to grow weak. The older citizens were expected to risk their lives for the younger fighters. Those with more experience, those who'd fought for longer, were often better soldiers—they had lived long enough to _get_ old after all—and they protected the lives of those with life still yet to live.

That was why they fought, Ymir explained. For the right to live. The old gave their lives for the young and, in turn, the young were expected to live that life as best as they could—so as to respect to sacrifices of the elderly—and to give their own lives when they aged. It was a simple exchange of goods: give life for life. The society depended on—thrived upon—paying such sacrifices forward. Those who gave their lives had no guarantee that they sacrifice would be worth it; it fell upon the living to make sure it was—with the knowledge that the next generation would do the same for them.

They all lived for one another, with no thoughts for themselves.

It was one for all, and all or nothing.

And so they needed to be the best. The village was only as strong as its weakest member, so they all had to be as strong as possible. That was Ruby's job. There was a group of teenagers—seventeen and eighteen-year-olds—who were old enough to join the village's main force. Rather than being held in reserve with the other children, in case of an emergency, they would go on raiding parties, protect the village's borders, and train the next generation. She wasn't here to train them, per se, but to judge them.

Even though the village was so far removed from the kingdoms, they still knew that Huntsmen and Huntresses were Remnant's best warriors. So whenever a team from the village was ready to come of age, a Huntsmen was called in to judge them. If they were deemed ready, the team was admitted to the main forces and the members became full adults in the eyes of the village. If they were found wanting, then the Huntsmen would stay and give them specialised training to make them ready. The village didn't have the luxury of stubborn pride; if they needed help, they'd ask it.

And that was why Ruby was there. It sounded easy enough. She was a little disappointed actually; it would be hard to use this to prove her capability to Ren and everyone at home. She sat in the empty hut Ymir had led her to and thought. It was often a bad idea—she went on so many missions to _stop_ herself from thinking—and now that she had time to think about it, a part of Ruby was feeling guilty for leaving.

She _knew_ they'd worry. She'd never done anything like this before; just up and leaving without a word. So she knew they wouldn't take it well. But she also knew that it was necessary. She'd be gone for a few days at the most, maybe a week if the team she was here to judge wasn't up to scratch, and then she'd be home, alive and well. They'd worry, they'd be angry, and they'd blame her for putting them through it. But she'd show them this time. After this, they'd see she could look after herself.

She kept telling herself that, over and over. But Ren's voice echoed in the back of her mind, filling her with doubt. _You're hurting us just as much as you're hurting yourself! _Ruby closed her eyes and tried to shut the voice out, but it was as insistent as Ren was in person. _And we know that, at this rate, there's going to be a day when you don't come back, and that _terrifies_ us! _

"Damn it." Ruby clenched her hands into fists. She could feel her nails cutting into the skin of her palms but, as ever, the pain drove away the voices. _They're trying to hold me back,_ she told herself. _I wouldn't be able to get anywhere if I do what they want. I'm a Huntress; I can't spend my days resting and doing nothing._ Ren's voice crept back in-between her thoughts, and she dug her nails in deeper to drive it further away.

_Ruby, just come out and talk to me… please?_

Ruby gasped and gritted her teeth as Yang's voice echoed in her ears.

_Come on, Sis… Let me help—_

A Beowolf howled in the distance. The voices vanished and Ruby was on her feet, already reaching for Crescent Rose. The howl faded away, echoing off the hills around the village, and silence reigned once more. Ruby relaxed. It was well outside the walls, she realised. It probably wasn't even within sight of the village; sound seemed to travel further out in the wilderness.

She laid down on the small cot that was all the furniture the hut had and closed her eyes. Someone walked past near her hut, but she ignored the sound. Probably someone going to check on the walls. Just because the Beowolf was far away now, didn't mean it wasn't getting closer. Ruby had only been in the village for an hour or two, and she already respected them for how hard they fought to live. There was a reason no kingdoms had been built on the Western Dragon, but these people were living as best as they could despite the constant danger.

The thought made Ruby smile. If they could live long, fulfilling lives here, then maybe there was hope for her as well. When death and destruction were constant threats, heartbreak and resentment seemed paltry things indeed.

Ruby sighed as she sank into the cot. It was surprisingly comfortable, and she could feel sleep washing over her. Yang and Ren stayed out of her head, thankfully. The only voice that rang through Ruby's head as she at last drifted off was her own.

_Maybe I should call Weiss…_

* * *

><p>At dawn, there was a knock at the door. Ruby jerked awake and peered towards the offending noise. The shadows of a pair of feet was visible through the crack under the door. They knocked again.<p>

"Madam Huntress?" a young voice called.

"Yeah, yeah," Ruby called back. "Give me a minute."

"Of course, Ma'am."

Ruby sighed. _'Madam'? _She swung out of the cot and reached for her combat outfit, folded neatly on top of her pack. After hurriedly getting dressed, she opened the door to the hut and saw a small girl waiting attentively outside.

"The Elder would like to see you, Ma'am," the girl said, her voice bright. She gazed up at Ruby with a mix of awe and disbelief.

Ruby smiled. "Sure. Lead the way…?"

"Hel, Ma'am," the girl answered brightly.

"Lead the way, Hel."

The girl led the way through the village, almost skipping as she walked, and glancing back excitedly at Ruby every few seconds. Ruby watched her with an amused smile. She had been like that when she was younger. She could still remember her reaction upon first meeting Goodwitch. How things change…?

A few villagers called out to Hel or bowed respectfully to Ruby as they passed. Hel responded with enthusiasm to every greeting, while the bowing made Ruby feel a little uncomfortable. Eventually though, they reached a larger hut—more house-like than most of the homes in the village—that bore an ornately decorated exterior. _Ymir's house,_ Ruby reasoned. No other building looked as extravagant as this one, and she doubted another villager would be privileged over the Elder.

Sure enough, when they entered, Ymir was sitting across the room from them. There was a door behind the elderly woman, but other than that, there appeared to be no other rooms in the building. The room they walked into was long, taking up most of the building, with a large fire pit in the centre, and cushioned mats encircling it. Across the pit there was another line of mats, placed in front of Ymir's large chair.

"Ah, Ruby, come in." Ymir waved her in. As Ruby stepped around the fire pit, she noticed the four teenagers kneeling in front of Ymir. They all turned to look at her as she approached.

The one nearest was a lanky boy with black hair hanging to his jaw. He had green eyes, almost obscured by a hanging fringe, and very pale skin. A thin sword hung at his waist, along with a dagger. He watched Ruby with an expression of discontent—like her presence was an intrusion. His eyebrows drew together as she walked closer, and his lips pursed as he examined her.

The next in line was another boy, only a little bulkier looking than the first, with light brown hair and shockingly golden eyes. They seemed to glisten as the firelight reflected off them, giving him an almost lupine appearance. The boy inclined his head to Ruby, causing the light to dance through his eyes once more. He seemed more impressed by the presence of a Huntress—some vain part of Ruby decided she liked him more than the other boy. His back was rigid and straight as he sat, no doubt held that way by the spear on his back. He also carried a short sword—barely more than a dagger—at his waist.

Third in the cue was a girl, with flowing red hair that hung to the middle of her back and yellow eyes. Ruby could tell just by looking at her that she was a Faunus, and probably a wolf as well. Every wolf Faunus she'd ever encountered had the same yellow eyes, though they seemed bland in comparison to the previous boy's shining, golden irises. The tips of the girl's canines could be seen pushing at her lips, despite her mouth being closed, and Ruby knew that, if she were to look at the girl's hands, there would be a set of retracted claws at the ends of her fingers. She carried a pair of wickedly curved daggers—the blades each a foot long—on her belt. The sheaths hung at the small of her back, crossing over so that, upon drawing the blades, she would be wielding them in a reverse grip.

The final watcher in the line was another boy, the largest of the bunch. He had short cut hair and unnervingly dark eyes. His irises were so dark that they blended into his pupil, giving his eyes a disturbing black and white dichotomy. His eyes seemed to stare through her, similar to Burr's the night before, and Ruby almost shuddered at the sudden feeling of vulnerability. The boy was well-muscled—the shape of them stood out through his clothes—and had a longbow strapped to his back, as well as a quiver of arrows at his belt. He also carried, just next to the quiver, a small, one-handed battle-axe.

"These will be your students for the day," Ymir said with a smile. "Children, meet your assessor."

Three of them nodded politely, but the first boy snorted under his breath and turned away from Ruby with a look of disdain. The girl shot him a glare, which he pointedly ignored.

"Your task today will be a simple one," Ymir continued. "Odin." The boy with the near-black eyes turned back to Ymir. "Your father noticed a pack of Grimm near the village last night. He requested that, should they leave us be during the night, you be sent out—with your team—to exterminate them." The boy nodded. "And seeing as your assessor arrived at the same time, I have decided to make that your test. Should the Huntress deem the test to be an unfit trial however, another shall be found. I'll leave it your discretion, Ruby." Ruby nodded, then turned her gaze back onto her 'students'. "Very well. All is ready. Make your introductions outside the walls, should you feel the need. Now make haste: the longer those monsters roam near our walls, the great the risk to the village."

The five of them left, walking past Hel, who was watching from the door with a look of excitement. Ruby gave the girl a smile as she passed, and stopped outside to wait for the others. The disdainful-looking boy left the building last and stopped at the door, kneeling next to Hel. He placed a hand on her shoulder and said a few quiet words to her. Ruby couldn't hear them, but she could see Hel pout in response. The boy smiled—the first expression other than discontent or irritation she'd seen on his face—and patted her affectionately on the head. He whispered a few more words into her ear, and the girl squealed with delight and wrapped her arms around his neck. The boy laughed and picked her up for a moment, swinging her in a circle before placing her back on the ground. The girl giggled excitedly and, after sending a bow Ruby's way, shot off down the street like a bullet.

The boy watched her go for a few seconds before standing up. He shared a quick smile with the girl in the group, and then returned to his former look of irritation. The other two were standing a few metres away with their backs to the proceedings. They glanced back and, once they were sure that all goodbyes had been made, started towards the gate.

Ruby followed a few metres behind the group, eyeing them over. They all carried themselves well. All four of them seemed ready for combat at any moment, even though they were still inside the village. She nodded approvingly. If they were looking to prove themselves, then they were already off to a good start.

The boy with the black eyes—the leader, Ruby had realised—turned to face her as the gates shut behind them. He bowed slightly, keeping his eyes on hers.

"Huntress," he said. "Thank you for coming to test us."

Ruby was taken aback. She forced her gaping mouth shut and racked her brains for a response. She bowed back, buying a few seconds.

"Uh… D-don't mention it…" There was a snort to her right. Ruby refused to look; she knew where it had come from. "Best of luck to you all today."

The leader smiled and nodded. "My name is Odin," he said, patting a hand to his chest. "This—" He put a hand on the shoulder of his golden-eyed friend. "—is Silas. And this is Fenrir." The girl nodded. "And Lopt." The boy scoffed again and looked away. "Forgive Lopt his… temperament. He means nothing by it."

Ruby glanced at Lopt momentarily before smiling at Odin. "Sure thing."

Odin smiled. "Well met, Huntress. We shall be in your care."

"Call me Ruby."

He hesitated for a second before nodding. "R-Ruby…" Then he smiled. "Well, now that that's out of the way, shall we be off?"

Odin's teammates nodded with a murmur of agreement, and Ruby gestured for him to take the lead. He nodded and spun away from the village. Swinging his bow off his back and into his left hand, Odin led the way up the gentle incline Ruby had approached the village from the night before. Silas swung his spear off his back and gripped it in his left hand, holding the point near the ground. Lopt and Fenrir pulled their blades out a few inches before letting them slide back—making sure they were free in their sheaths.

As they reached the top of the hill, Odin stopped. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose; the other three stood closer to him and glanced around. Ruby reached out with her aura, searching for any Grimm, but felt none nearby. Odin placed his right hand over his right eye and blinked his left eye a few times before opening it wide. His iris and pupil contracted, leaving his eye mostly white, and he let out a slow breath.

"One mile…" he breathed. "Straight ahead. They've found a boar, and are occupied with it. If we move quickly, we'll be able to sneak up on them. I see… eight Beowolves." He closed his left eye again and let his hand drop to his side. After a few deeps breaths, he opened both his eyes and marched on again.

Ruby watched him as they walked with a mix of confusion and curiosity. Had he really just been able to sense Grimm from a _mile away_? Forget _sensing_ them; he said he'd _seen_ them. What kind of person could see that far? Even Faunus could only see better in the dark; distance wasn't really a factor that improved unless they were the right type of Faunus, and even then… a _mile_?

"His semblance," Silas said, snapping Ruby out of her thoughts. He was glancing back at her and smiling slightly at the confused expression on her face.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "A semblance…? You're aura-users?"

Lopt scoffed once again and this time Fenrir punched him on the shoulder. As he flinched away, Silas continued. "Of course. Huntsmen and Huntresses came here a couple of generations ago and taught our warriors at the time about auras and semblances. It's been an integral part of our training ever since."

"Right…" It made sense. Living in an isolated community like this, they'd need every advantage they could get. _Well that ought to make things more interesting._

They covered the mile at a run, passing groves of trees and rocky outcrops. After almost ten minutes, Odin brought them up short. They were all breathing heavily, but Lopt seemed somewhat more out of breath than the rest. Ruby took note of it and glanced back at Odin. The boy was peering down a hill, into a nearby grove. It wasn't large enough to be a forest, but it was large enough that Ruby would hate to be surrounded by a pack of Grimm in it; there would be lots of room for them to hide.

"In there," he said. "I can see them moving in between the trees."

Ruby peered into the darkness of the grove and saw nothing. His eyesight really was impressive, she had to admit. Provided they actually were there, and he wasn't just making it up. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and set it on the string. No one moved for a few seconds; their eyes were trained on Odin, who's eyes were trained on the trees. After half a minute, he drew the arrow back to his ear and raised the bow. He let out a breath and let the arrow fly.

It zipped into the grove, narrowly missing a tree, and hit something. There was a roar of pain and a whimper. Definitely a Beowolf. Ruby glanced at Odin with a little admiration. He was an excellent shot too.

Silas stood next to Ruby and planted his spear point first in the ground. He formed a complicated sign with his hands and closed his eyes. Fenrir and Lopt drew their blades, while Odin readied another arrow. He let it fly, followed quickly by another one, before taking a step down the hill.

Ruby glanced towards the grove as the Beowolves roared. It was a cry of anger now—a war cry. The trees rustled and, seconds later, seven Beowolves burst into view. One of them had two arrows jutting of its shoulder, inches from its neck, while the others seemed in perfect condition. Their muzzles were all stained red with blood; no doubt the boar Odin had mentioned was lying in the brush somewhere, half-devoured.

Odin clicked his tongue and let a fourth arrow fly. It took the injured Beowolf in the throat and it toppled to the ground, clawing at the wooden shaft. Fenrir and Lopt charged ahead of Odin, blades flashing in the sunlight. Fenrir let out a vicious roar as she ran, almost as terrifying as that of the Grimm. Odin watched them with his fingers on the fletching of another arrow, but he didn't draw it.

"Si," Odin said, with a glance at Silas. "Get Lopt."

Silas nodded, his eyes still closed. He took another breath and tensed his body. Nothing happened as far as Ruby could see, but Odin seemed satisfied. He drew the arrow and set it on the string, still just watching. This arrow seemed different from the others; the head was glowing with faint lines of red. _Dust_, she realised. _Somehow forged into the arrowhead. _

Odin continued to watch the fray, so Ruby followed his gaze. Two Beowolves had already fallen, and both Fenrir and Lopt had blood on the blades. The four remaining wolves encircled the pair, growling. The two stood back to back, weapons ready. Fenrir said something, and Lopt glanced over his shoulder at her. The pair shared a grin and then both leapt at the enemy.

Lopt ducked one blow and deflected another with his dagger, using the force of the blow to spin himself around and slice across the beast's abdomen with his sword. Fenrir didn't dodge the first blow that came at her; she swung a dagger to meet it and sliced the offending hand off at the wrist. Lopt rolled forwards and came up behind the wolf he'd almost disembowelled and stabbed it through the spine with his dagger. The monster toppled forwards, twitched a few times and lay still.

The Beowolf with one remaining hand cowered away from Fenrir in pain. Fenrir glanced at it for an instant and turned to face her other opponent. She called out Odin's name as she turned her back on the beast and he drew his arrow back and released it faster than Ruby could follow. The arrow tore through the beast's hide and the Dust ignited it from the inside. The monster screamed and clawed at its chest, trying to put out the flames, but only succeeded in tearing open its own torso and finishing itself off.

Lopt flipped backwards to dodge a swing and righted himself just as another claw flashed towards his face. Ruby took a step forward in fear; he had no time to dodge. The claw smashed into the side of his head with enough force to tear flesh, even with an active aura. Lopt fell sideways and Ruby opened to mouth to cry out in alarm, but stopped as he cartwheeled to the side—moving with the force of the blow—and stabbed his sword in between the wolf's ribs and into its heart.

He drew his sword out with a _snick_ and glanced at Fenrir. He looked fine. Ruby couldn't help but be confused again. A blow like that should have sliced his face open, maybe even knocked him out. Had he been unprepared, he should have had aura shock. But he was fine. She glanced at Silas, who was smiling slightly. Beads of sweat ran down Silas' forehead, and he was panting slightly. He opened one eye and glanced at Ruby.

"My semblance." His eye closed and he worked to slow his breathing. Odin glanced at him for a moment before turning his gaze back to the battle.

There was one left, larger than the others. Fenrir dropped to the ground as she charged and slid between its legs. She slashed at its knees as she passed under it and the beast fell to the ground with a cry and a loud snap. The Faunus called Odin's name again, and he fired another arrow just as quickly as before. This one seemed to be an ordinary arrow; nothing exciting happened as it lanced through the monster's eye. The beast toppled forward and Ruby could make out the shape of the arrowhead poking out of the back of its skull. Fenrir got to her feet and flicked her daggers, sending drops of blood scattering onto the grass. Then all was quiet.

The four warriors were all panting—some more than others. Fenrir sheathed her daggers and reached a hand out to Lopt. He knocked her hand away, turned and stormed back up the hill. Ruby watched in concern as hurt flashed across Fenrir's face, and then raised an eyebrow as it vanished just as quickly.

"Well?" Lopt asked as he came to a stop in front of Ruby.

She turned her gaze onto him and pursed her lips in thought. "You handled this extremely well," she said. "I'll give you that. But a pack of Beowolves that size isn't really a good test…"

"I agree," Odin said. He'd already covered his right eye and his left iris and pupil had contracted. "There's a few more Grimm nearby. I think they heard the commotion; they're on their way here."

"Where from?" Fenrir asked as she reached the top of the hill.

Odin pointed behind him. "I think we'll have a few minutes before they get here."

Ruby glanced in the direction he'd pointed and, sure enough, there were black shapes approaching in the distance. She nodded. "Looks like that should be a big enough pack. If you can exterminate these ones as well as you did those—" She pointed at the already vaporising Beowolf corpses. "—then I'll say you've passed."

They all nodded and—except for Lopt—grinned. Fenrir and Lopt headed towards the oncoming enemies, drawing and releasing their weapons again. Lopt laid a hand on her shoulder, saying something quietly into her ear. She smiled at him, kissed the tips of two fingers and pressed the fingers to his cheek.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What's with those two?" she asked no one in particular.

Silas answered. "They were consorting only six months ago—"

"Consorting?"

He frowned. "What word would you use…? 'Dating'? 'In love'?"

"Oh… what happened?"

"Lopt ended it," Silas said with a shrug, as if it was nothing.

"But…" _They still seem so close._ "She was _okay_ with that?"

Odin burst out laughing. "Fenrir? Okay with it?" he chuckled. "Of course not! She'd been saying only the day before that they were made for one another—meant to be married. She was devastated for _days_!"

_'Days'?_ Ruby frowned. _The way they say it, you'd think she'd been torn up about it for years. _"But they seem so… friendly…"

"Well, of course," Odin said with a confused look. "Why wouldn't they be?"

"Because he broke her heart…?" They both looked they were having trouble wrapping their heads around Ruby's question. And she was struggling to wrap her head around why they'd be confused.

"And she got over it," Silas said. "Pain fades. Wounds heal. He may not love her anymore, but they still have the qualities that attracted them to each other in the first place. So they remain friends. They might not be _together_, but they still enjoy one another's company."

"There's no sense in wasting time being upset about it," Odin added. "There's too much else to life to worry about that. Besides—" He jabbed Silas in the side. "—odds are he's going to fall back in love with her again."

Silas grinned back. "Well if Fen has anything to say about it, he won't have a choice."

They both laughed, but Ruby was too deep in thought at this point to notice. It made sense, in a way. They lived their lives so precariously, and they were always at risk of death, so it made sense for them move on from things quickly. With no guarantee of living to see tomorrow, there was no point in holding grudges. _But I'm just the same_, Ruby realised. Working as a Huntress, there was no guarantee one would make it back alive from a mission. Anything could go wrong, and at any time.

_Weiss…_

Ruby couldn't stop the heiress' face from drifting into her mind. If they were right, then Ruby really had no excuse for avoiding contact with her. And they _were_ right, Ruby could see that. But, despite the logic, she was still afraid. _Take a page from their book_, Yang's voice said to her. _Isn't it a little selfish to act the way you have been? These people have far less in life than you do, and yet they're happier. Shouldn't that tell you something?_

Ruby pulled out her scroll and eyed it with trepidation. She needed to call Weiss. Soon. Odin was right: there was no sense in wasting time. And who knew, maybe they could fall back in love as well… Ruby shook her head. _Maybe _she_ can fall back in love… I never stopped…_ She shook her head again, harder. _Don't get your hopes too high, Ruby._

"Here they come!" Fenrir's voice echoing up the hill snapped Ruby out of her internal monologue. The Grimm were fifty metres away from Lopt and Fenrir, and picking up speed. It was a mixed pack: three Beowolves, two Ursai and a Deathstalker the same size as the Ursai—a young one. None of them hesitated; they attacked as one.

Odin sent arrows into the enemy line. He injured two of the wolves and slowed the rest down, enough so that Fenrir and Lopt could attack in relative safety. They fell on the enemy in a flurry of flashing blades. Blood sprayed.

Ruby put a hand on Crescent Rose, reassuring herself. Silas was holding his strange stance again, concentrating on the pair fighting in front of them. Odin was firing arrows at the Deathstalker, keeping it off Fenrir and Lopt. After it was hit in the stinger with a Freeze Dust arrow, the scorpion rushed up the hill.

"Si, switch to me!" Odin roared as he slung his bow over his shoulder and drew his axe.

"You're covered!" Silas yelled a second later.

Odin grinned and threw himself at the monster. He dove as its claws flashed towards him and slipped in between them. An instant later, he was on his feet and bringing his axe down. It chopped through the thin plating at what Ruby would call the Deathstalker's shoulder—the joint between one of its claws and its body. The claw came off in two quick blows, and the monster shrieked. The other claw slammed into Odin, but a golden aura flared around him and he merely rolled away from the blow and jumped to his feet, unscathed.

Silas grunted as the blow landed; obviously each blow was an effort for him. Ruby thought she had an idea of his semblance now: he could enhance other people's auras. There was probably more to it—no semblance that useful came without a catch—but the end result was that his teammates were impervious to blows that should normally have knocked them out.

Something attracted the Deathstalker; instead of pursuing Odin as he rolled away, it continued its charge up the hill.

"Si! Look out!" Odin cried.

Ruby reached for Crescent Rose, but stopped as Silas' eyes opened and he snatched his spear out of the ground. His eyes blazed like the sun and the light danced in his light brown hair as he stepped forward. The claw was around him and closing by the time he attacked. With an impossibly fast flick of his spear, he butted the claw with the haft end and knocked the claw over his head; it snapped shut inches above him.

Silas spun the way his flick was turning him and, when he came around in a full circle, stabbed the spear into the shoulder of the monster's last claw. It squealed and tried to pull its claw back, but the limb hung limply and pathetically, dragging along the ground. Silas danced away, jabbing with the spear in an attempt to keep the creature away. Seconds later, Odin appeared next to him with an arrow drawn and ready to fire.

The arrow took the Deathstalker in one of its eyes, and it retreated, lashing out with its stinger as it went. Odin fired again, at its injured claw, freezing it to the ground with another Freeze Dust arrow. As the beast tugged at the ice, they both attacked. They danced back and forth, perfectly in sync, and after a few seconds, the scorpion shuddered and died.

Ruby took her hand off Crescent Rose and breathed out. She glanced over the corpse of the Deathstalker and was relieved to see Lopt and Fenrir approaching, weapons sheathed.

"Well?" Lopt asked again.

This time, Ruby nodded. "Yeah. You're good."

The four of them cheered and high-fived. Fenrir wrapped her arms around Lopt's neck and planted a kiss on his cheek; the boy grimaced at first but smiled to himself when she turned away. Odin and Silas clasped hands and grinned. Ruby watched it all with a smile. It reminded her of her graduation from Beacon. Excited to be an adult, finally, and sharing it with her closest friends.

She missed them already, she realised. Despite how little time she'd spent with them over the last year, at least they'd been _there_. Now she was alone, and she missed them. Watching these four was… painful. It showed her a new outlook on life. They all fought and lived and died for one another. For the last year, all Ruby had thought about was herself… _Well now it's time to change that._

Another smile crept across her face. A sadder smile. It was a smile that remembered all the mistakes she'd made since Weiss left, but accepted them. There was no sense in getting upset about them. Life was too short. The fear was still there, but Ruby did her best to quash it, rather than coaxing it to life.

_One for all, and all or nothing._

After a few minutes of celebration, the four calmed down. Odin scanned the area around them, but said there were no Grimm for miles around them and that they should head back to the village. Ruby was happy to go back. She'd seen what they were capable of, and now she wanted to head back home. It was funny: she'd been so eager to leave, and now she was just as eager to return—not even twenty four hours after having left.

The walk back to the village was uneventful. The team talked excitedly to themselves, while Ruby walked quietly behind. She looked up as they neared the village and was surprised to see a Vale airship flying in. _Who could that be?_ she thought with a frown. She watched it until they crested the rise that then sank down to the village, and then shrugged. It didn't matter. She had more important things to worry about. _Like Weiss._

It was time to go. Ymir offered to let her stay for a banquet that night, to celebrate the team's rising to full members of the village, but Ruby politely declined. If there was another airship coming in, she could use it to get back home. The airship coming for her wouldn't be back for a couple of days, and she wanted to get back as soon as possible. She needed to reach the landing zone before the airship left.

She said her goodbyes as quickly as she could. Fenrir, Odin and Silas all shook her hand and thanked her for her efforts, and even Lopt looked at her for long enough to mumble his gratitude. Fenrir promptly slapped him and made him thank Ruby properly—which he did with a pained expression. Ruby laughed and waved off the gratitude; she really hadn't done anything. Then, leaving behind a flurry of rose petals, she dashed to her rented hut, grabbed her pack, and made for the gate.

The airship was sitting at the top of the hill when she made it to the top of the hill, and there was a familiar figure standing next to it, her long, yellow hair dancing in the breeze. Ruby smiled. _Of course, why would I expect anything different._

Yang gave her a severe look as she approached. "Ruby Rose, you stupid little—" She cut off suddenly when Ruby threw herself at her big sister and wrapped her arms around her.

Neither of them said anything. Ruby squeezed Yang as tightly as she could, and Yang squeezed her back. It had been so long, Ruby realised. She missed this warmth, this smell. Yang had been her rock through everything up until now… _How could I push her away this time? _The thought made her squeeze tighter.

"Hey, wha—" Yang began.

"I'm sorry," Ruby interjected, burying her face in the curve of Yang's neck.

"No, it's oka—"

"No, it isn't. I'm sorry, Yang. I love you…"

Yang hesitated. "I love you too, Sis. I'm always here, you know?"

Ruby leant back and nodded, wiping away a tear. "I know. Thanks, Sis."

Yang smiled. It was the first genuine, carefree smile Ruby had seen on her in a year. "Home?"

The newly-healed Huntress nodded to her older sister. "Home…" She took one last glance back at the village and smiled. "I've got a phone call to make."


	12. A Cunning Trap

Weiss crouched on a rooftop across the street from the Schnee Dust Company branch offices. She'd been there—watching—for almost an hour now. The sun was glaring down at her, and Weiss regretted not finding a rooftop with some shade; her aura was working overtime, trying to keep her fair skin from burning.

Cars could be heard driving back and forth below her, but Weiss was too far back from the edge of the roof to see them. All she needed was a line of sight on the front door and the garage of the office; there was no reason to risk being spotted.

Out of boredom more than any need to, Weiss drew Myrtenaster and spun the cylinder. It spun smoothly, having been oiled the night before. The chambers were all full of Dust, and the barrel was clear. The point tapered into invisibility; so sharp that she couldn't even see it. Poking a finger to the tip only succeeded in giving her a painful jab and drawing blood. Weiss swore and pressed it to her tongue. The pain quickly faded, and by the time Weiss looked at it again, her aura had healed the cut.

She slipped Myrtenaster back into its sheath with a sigh. She half-considered pulling out a nail file, but that was taking it too far—she needed to keep watch.

A few more heat-filled, utterly boring minutes passed and, like a gift from on high, Weiss' quarry left the building across the road. She'd looked up a list of the board members in Mistral and had been waiting for any one of them to leave the building. A black car pulled up in front of the office, and the man got in. He wasn't the man who had appeared to be the leader of the group, but it would have to do.

Weiss watched the car and moved to the left side of the building. The car pulled out and drove to her left for a few metres before swinging in a U-turn and going to her right. Weiss clicked her tongue and dashed after it. A glyph appeared at the edge of the roof and launched Weiss up and onto the roof of the next building.

The continued straight, and Weiss followed. She came to a stop when the car reached a set of traffic lights. Its left indicator was blinking; it was turning away from her. With a muttered curse, Weiss stepped back to the middle of the roof and conjured two glyphs. One at her feet, and another at the edge of the roof. She rocketed forward and was launched over the street, spiralling gracefully through the air before landing on a rooftop across the street from where she'd started. Her shoes slid along the roof for a few metres and when she came to a stop, Weiss dashed to the edge of the roof and glanced down at the car.

The light turned green and it made the turn, taking off faster than the cars around it. Its engine revved as it tore down the street, and Weiss' shoes clicked against the roof as she gave chase. The car gained ground on her whenever she was running, but her glyph-jumps helped her make up the lost distance; if not for the drain it would put on her aura, she'd do nothing but use her glyphs to keep up.

The car turned corners here and there, which gave Weiss a challenge, but for the most part it stayed on long, straight roads. As she landed from another cross-street glyph-jump, her scroll rang. She pulled it out as she ran and put it to her ear.

"Kind of busy right now!" She jumped to another rooftop and grunted as she landed in a roll.

"You found one then?" Neptune sounded concerned.

"What gave you that idea?"

"Well the panting and grunting was a good start." A hint of mischief slipped into his voice. "Though that could mean anything, really."

If Weiss' eyes weren't trained on her quarry, they'd have been rolling. "What's it like? Living in the gutter like that?"

"Dirty, but entertaining," Neptune laughed.

"_Anyway—_" Weiss jumped over an alleyway, scaring a few stray cats. "—what do you want?"

"So you found one—"

"We've established that."

"—does he know you're following him?"

Weiss smirked. "Oh, he knows. I'm not exactly inconspicuous here, leaping from rooftop to rooftop."

"Good. So we're all set?"

"Now we just wait and see."

"Alright," Neptune said. "I'll let you know if and when anything pops up."

Weiss ended the call without replying and slipped her scroll away before leaping across another street. The car was picking up its pace, but never doing anything too smart, like making consecutive turns. If they were _really_ trying to lose her, they'd wouldn't have had to try too hard. They definitely knew she was following them, and they were making sure she didn't lose them.

_Good,_ she thought as she jumped to a lower rooftop. _That means they're leading me away from the office for a reason. _The car's increasing pace was further evidence of that. The faster it went, while still keeping her in sight, the further from the office she got. Which meant one of two things: something important was going to happen at the office right now, or someone from the office wanted to go somewhere else without being followed. And Weiss knew which one it was.

The leader of the group had said—in the one conversation Weiss and Neptune had managed to successfully eavesdrop on—that any and all meetings on their plots would take place 'at the warehouse'. It had taken Neptune a while, but he'd managed to talk to a contact of Scarlet's—a man who worked in a private security firm—who'd given them a list of probable warehouses. The two of them had cross-referenced the list of heavily guarded warehouses with the city's lists of stored stock.

They'd managed to narrow it down to one most likely warehouse, and few other potential ones. There was one warehouse that was as heavily guarded as the city's main Dust supply—enough troops on the walls and in the grounds to raid a village—but, according to the city's manifests, was empty. The manifests had mentioned supplies of Dust that went in and out of the warehouse, but it never had stock held inside for more than a day.

Their plan had been simple: Weiss would let herself be seen across the street from the office, and follow whoever came out to wherever they led her; Neptune would wait outside the warehouse in question—actually hide—and see if anyone from the Schnee offices arrived while Weiss was distracted. Hopefully—probably—the board members would think Neptune was investigating somewhere else, and not that they'd found the warehouse and he was lying in wait. They had no reason to suspect they'd found it, and that was the only edge that Weiss and Neptune had.

So Weiss chased the car as conspicuously as she could, making sure they knew where she was at all times. As long as this car had her in its sight, they 'knew' they were clear to go to the warehouse. All they needed was to see someone from the office go into the warehouse, and then they'd know for sure.

The chase went on for at least twenty minutes, and Weiss was nearing exhaustion. Her legs burned, she was drenched in sweat, and she could feel her aura pulsing in what passed for pain—she'd been working it too hard. Patronisingly, the car had slowed down as Weiss fell behind. They _really_ wanted to keep her in sight.

They came to another set of traffic lights and Weiss almost collapsed. She sucked in air and gasped it out, looking like a fish plucked from the water. As she watched the car, she caught a glimpse of someone in the passenger seat holding a scroll to their ear. _Please be a good sign_, she prayed.

As soon as the light turned green, the car sped off, faster than it had gone up until now. Weiss took a few steps, intending to follow, but quickly stopped as it tore around a corner and vanished from sight.

Weiss took in a deep breath. "Yeah, forget that." She forced her aura into action one last time and threw herself off the roof. A glyph slowed her down just before she hit the ground, and she casually stepped off the hovering glyph and walked down the street as if nothing had happened.

Pedestrians nearby looked at her like an Ursa had just dropped out of the sky, but Weiss ignored the looks—she was too busy trying to catch her breath. A café caught her eye and she slipped into a seat at a table just inside the door. A waiter came over and Weiss ordered a jug of water, a sandwich and an iced coffee.

The water was like a breath of life, soothing her throat and cooling her down. Soon after, the food and coffee arrived. Weiss ate the small meal, grateful for the sorely needed calories, and waited for Neptune to call.

It wasn't until she'd finished both the food and the drinks and was leaning back in her chair, watching people walk by, that the call came. She snatched her scroll from the table and pressed it to her ear.

"Tell me we got them."

"We got 'em."

Weiss sighed in relief and sunk into her chair. "You saw them go in?"

"Yeah. The guy in charge of the rest; I saw him go inside about ten minutes ago. I'd say that tells us all we need to know."

"Yeah… Now we just need to find a way in."

"That won't be easy. This place is crawling with guards. Proper security teams too, not the usual, useless ones."

"That's fine. We've got time to plan it out now. As long as we know they're there, we can keep an eye on it while we plan, and then, once we have a way in, we sneak in after them during their next visit and we find out who's behind this and what they're planning."

"Sounds good. Where are you? I'll snap a few photos of the layout and guard positions and come pick you up."

Weiss gave him the name of the café and ended the call. She called a waiter over, ordered another sandwich and settled in to wait.

* * *

><p>"It doesn't look good," Neptune grumbled. The pair stood over his dining table, with a blueprint of the warehouse spread across it. The photos he'd taken—freshly printed—were scattered on top of it and they'd marked the places where stationary guard posts were set up. The late afternoon sun was shining through a window, casting the room in an orange glow.<p>

"That's putting it lightly." Weiss scratched at her nose as she pored over the plans. "Is there any way to get the guards out of there?"

Neptune shook his head. "The warehouse is empty, so we don't have anything to play with there."

"So we can't use the old 'volatile-batch-of-Dust' trick…"

"Exactly."

"Hmm…" Weiss pulled a chair back and sank into it, crossing her legs. "And there's no way in from underground."

"I'll say one thing for these guys: they know how to choose a good hideout. It's too far from any of the adjacent buildings to jump across, and the sewer system runs under the building _behind_ it. The gates are too heavily guarded and the grounds are too heavily patrolled."

Something he'd said caught Weiss' attention. She stood up and checked over all of the photos he'd taken. Her scroll—sitting on the kitchen bench—started ringing, but Weiss ignored it. Most of the pictures didn't help her, but there were a few that had good shots of the building's roof.

She looked up at Neptune. "How many guards did you see on the roof?"

He pursed his lips and glanced at the photos. "Two… Yeah, just two. One on each end."

"Good. That's got to be our way in."

Neptune scratched at his chin. "So what're you thinking?" he asked. "Airship? They're not going to miss a Haven airship hovering over their hideout. That'll set the alarm off faster than anything."

Weiss frowned. He was right, but they really had no other way in.

The blue-haired Huntsmen snapped his fingers. "What if—"

"—we don't stop the airship," Weiss finished. She'd had the same thought, and immediately realised how stupid it was. But, she realised, there really was no other way in. "I'd have to go in alone," she added. "There's no way you could make that landing."

He frowned. "Couldn't you use bigger glyphs to slow us both down?"

Weiss shook her head. "I'd be putting everything I have into slowing myself down. Falling from a moving airship is never a fun landing—even for me. I can't take care of your landing too; we'd both end up smears on the rooftop."

"Damn it…"

"Once I get in, I can try turning on a fire alarm." Weiss glanced over the blueprints again. "There's no guarantee it would get the guards out of the way though."

"Bad idea." Neptune shook his head. "They'd know nothing was inside—nothing that could cause a fire. Switching on an alarm would just let them know you're there."

"Well then… I guess that's the plan sorted out… Now we just have to time it right."

"Yeah…" Neptune pored over the plans and photos for a few seconds. "I may not like it, but it's really the only choice we have. I can keep an airship on standby for you at Haven. It won't be ready to take off as soon as you are, but it should only take fifteen minutes or so."

"Fifteen minute wait, five minute flight. Will twenty minutes be too long?"

He shook his head. "It should be fine. They were in there for almost an hour today."

"So you'll keep watch on the warehouse, and let me know when one of them goes in…"

"And then you drop in and finish this thing."

They smiled at each other and nodded. Neptune walked over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk. Weiss lanced over the blueprints for a while longer, trying to plan out her plan of action once she got inside. She'd have to take out one or both of the guards on the roof—depending on where she landed—and cut through the roof. There was no other way to get in without risking being seen.

The plans showed two floors to the building: a ground floor and a basement. Once she cut through the roof, there was a maze of rafters which she could use to move around without being seen. If no one was on the ground floor, then she'd have to sneak down to the basement.

Her scroll rang again.

There were two ways into the basement: the stairs and the freight elevator. The stairs would be watched, so she had to climb down the elevator shaft. From there… she'd have to wing it. There could be any number of people in there, and there was no way to plan for it.

She sighed and sat down again. The sun had set now; the sky was still lit, but was darkening quickly. She could see stars shining here and there.

"Hey," Neptune called. "Do you want to answer this?"

She glanced over at him and—after a moment's thought—nodded. He picked up the still-ringing scroll and tossed it to her. With a swipe of her thumb, Weiss opened the scroll and answered the call.

"Hello?" She glanced back out the window.

"Uh… hi, Weiss."

Weiss frowned and glanced at Neptune, who was watching her with an expression of curiosity. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. "Who is this?"

There was a moment of silence. Weiss opened her mouth to ask again—

"It's Ruby."

The floor seemed to shift under Weiss' feet. Her heart leapt into her throat so fast she thought she was going to throw up. Neptune looked at her with concern at her sudden change of expression.

"R-Ruby… Hi." As nervous as Weiss was, just being able to say those two words made her heart soar. Neptune's eyebrows nearly shot off his face; he downed the last of his glass of milk and left the room. Weiss heard the apartment door open and shut and footsteps walking down the corridor outside. She smiled silent and unseen thanks at the man.

"How've you been?" Weiss continued.

"Aaah, you know. Getting by. How about you?"

"Y-yeah," Weiss chuckled. "Me too."

They sat in silence for a while, neither of them knowing what to say.

It was Ruby who broke it. "Sorry I didn't get your call a few days ago. I'd have called back sooner but—"

"No, no. It's fine!" Weiss cut in. "You were busy; I get it."

"Yeah… busy…" A hint of sadness made its way into Ruby's voice.

"Ruby… Are you _sure—_"

"So anyway!" Ruby cut her off. "What've you been up to?"

Weiss smiled to herself. _Typical Ruby._ "Just working; nothing too exciting. Yourself?"

"Yeah, just… working." Weiss felt a stab of heartache at Ruby's hesitation; Blake had told her all about Ruby's self-destructive monster hunting crusade. "Been working a bit _too_ much, really," Ruby added with a small chuckle. "I've been thinking of getting away for a while, taking a little holiday."

Weiss' heart started beating faster, and her breathing quickened. "I-Is that right?" she asked, hoping she sounded normal.

"I… uh… yeah. I thought it might be good to get out of Vale for a few days. Maybe head to another kingdom for a while, see the sights. Maybe… Mistral…"

Weiss almost laughed, despite her overpowering nervousness. Ruby had always been about as subtle as a bullet to the face. "Funny you mention Mistral. I'm actually there now, working a job."

"Oh… is that right? How's that going?"

"Good. We're just waiting things out now; but everything should be sorted within a few days. Then uh… I'd… be happy to show you around the city…"

Another moment of silence. Weiss thought she heard a muffled sob and struggled to fight back tears of her own.

"That'd be great," Ruby finally answered.

"Yeah… Yeah, it would." Weiss smiled. She glanced at the blueprints as she answered and had a sudden brainwave. "Hey, you know… if you're feeling up to it—I know you're coming here for a holiday—but I could probably use some help with this job."

"Oh… Y-yeah, sure. Of course. I'd love to help. But… aren't you working with Neptune?"

"Neptune can't drop out of a moving airship like you can." Weiss smiled. Ruby was the only person Weiss knew—besides herself—who _could_ drop out of a moving airship. "It'll be like old times: dropping out of the sky, taking out the bad guys."

Ruby laughed. The sound made Weiss' head spin and brought a tear to her eye. She hadn't heard that laugh in over a year, and hearing the sound of Ruby's happiness made her heart soar all over again.

"Yeah," Ruby answered. "That sounds like fun. I'll be on the first airship out."

"Wonderful." Weiss hadn't felt this happy in a long time. "Let me know when you're going to get in, and I'll pick you up." _This is it, _she thought, _Ruby's going to be a part of my life again._ She couldn't keep herself from grinning.

"Awesome. I guess I… I'll… I'll see you then, Weiss." Ruby's voice broke when she said her name, and Weiss laughed quietly.

"Yeah, Ruby. I'll see you then." She went to end the call, but remembered something. "R-Ruby!"

"Yeah?"

Weiss sighed. "I just wanted to say… that… umm… I… I'm…" _I'm sorry._ Try as she might, she couldn't get the words out.

"I know, Weiss. Me too…" Weiss smiled as she felt a tear spill down her cheek. "I'll see you soon," Ruby finished. The call ended.

Weiss looked at her scroll for a minute, trying to convince herself that she'd actually _had_ that conversation. She smiled, cried, and laughed. Her heart was a roiling mess of emotions, and she couldn't even pick out an individual one that she was feeling. _Joy,_ she told herself. _That has to be the main one… _

Weiss slid her scroll closed with a smile and set it back on the table. Her chair creaked as she leant back and closed her eyes. _This is it,_ she thought to herself again. _Gods… I love you, Ruby Rose._

* * *

><p>In the semi-darkness of the early evening, a woman gazed up at an apartment building in Mistral. She stood under a streetlight, with her arms crossed. Her clothes were almost entirely blue: a short, light blue, silk skirt, with dark blue shorts underneath; a deep blue blouse; and a short, thick jacket. Her boots and stockings were black, as was the belt she wore at her waist. Two long knives—almost swords—hung from the belt; she wore one knife on each hip, and had an assortment of small Dust canisters attached to the rest of the available space on the belt.<p>

The woman pulled out her scroll and dialled the first number in her contacts list. On the third ring, he answered.

"Good evening, Ao. Is everything going smoothly?"

"Of course," she answered with a smirk. "You left me in charge here for a reason, didn't you?"

"Just making sure," the man laughed. "Even you make mistakes sometimes."

"Myrka Vald!" Ao cried with feigned outrage. "When was the last time I made a mistake?"

"Uh… Atlas?"

"That… That doesn't count."

"Of course it doesn't," Myrka muttered, resigned. "Anyway, what's going on?"

"The Schnee girl is hot on my tail. My guards saw her boyfriend spying on the warehouse today when Randall came by. They know where we are now."

"Excellent. So it should only be a few days before she tries to break in."

"If I were her, I'd have someone watching the warehouse, waiting for one of the board members to go in, and _then_ make my move. So I'll tell Randall to come by again tomorrow; that should draw her in sooner—before she has a chance to call in back-up."

"I'll leave it to you then. Make sure she dies, Ao."

"Of course," Ao replied. "How are things in Vale?"

"Moving along smoothly. I had to pull back the Grimm—Beacon was sending out too many extermination parties—but the Talon is managing to sneak in easily enough."

"Have you got any intel from—"

"Yes," Myrka cut in. "A very effective spy, I must say. An excellent choice on your part. It took a little while, but now we know where they all live; I'm planning the invasion so that I can kill as many of them as I can along the way."

"Is it just the three still?"

"There's seven now. I've heard about a team that seems very close to them, so I figured we'll kill them as well. Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren are all marked to die."

"I recognise those names… From the incident with the White Fang, yes?"

"Indeed."

"Well, consider the Schnee girl dead. You take care of the rest."

"Of course," Myrka said, his voice full of confidence. "Now, once she's dead, I'll need you to head to Vacuo; matters still aren't exactly settled there, and I'll need the rest of the Talon in Vale for the invasion."

"I'll take care of it."

"I know you will. Thank you, Ao, for coming this far with me."

"We've been in this together since we started, Myrka. I'd never abandon you. Especially not after coming this far."

"I'll meet you at the top. Once we take Vale, the world is ours."

Ao grinned. "Make sure the cushion on my throne is blue."

Myrka laughed. "Of course. Best of luck to you, my friend."

"And to you," Ao replied before ending the call. She looked up at the apartment building again with a sigh.

_Weiss Schnee_, she thought,_ I hope you enjoy your evening. I wish we could have avoided this, but by this time tomorrow, you'll be dead._


	13. Dead Ends

"So you found nothing?" Blake asked, running a hand through her hair. Pyrrha looked back at her on the screen above her desk, grimacing apologetically.

"Sorry, Blake. The villagers around here don't know anything, and if the trains were getting robbed, we'd hear about it."

Blake sighed and glanced out the window. Students were walking back and forth across the campus grounds. They knew as much about what was going on as Blake felt she did. She winced and closed her eyes as the sun reflected off a student's weapon and stabbed into her eyes.

"What about the caves?" she asked, turning back to Pyrrha.

The red-haired Huntress shook her head. "We tried, but it's just too expansive. Nora and Jaune are still searching, but there are just too many branches that all seem to go on forever. If there's a cache of stolen Dust in there, we'll never find it."

"Damn it," Blake swore. "This was the only lead we had, Pyrrha."

"I know. I'm just as disappointed as you, trust me. But the sooner we get back, the sooner we can search for other leads."

With a resigned sigh, Blake nodded. "Alright. Once Jaune and Nora get back, come on home. We'll… I don't know. We'll sort something out."

Pyrrha nodded. "How're you doing?" she asked, concern in her voice. "You look tired."

The Faunus shook her head. "I'm fine. Just trying to keep up with all this."

"Don't let it turn into a Torchwick thing again," Pyrrha said with a frown. "Make sure you get some rest."

"Thanks, _Yang_," Blake laughed. "I'll make sure to finish up early tonight. We've got a lot of ground to cover tomorrow."

"Sounds good," Pyrrha said with a reassured smile. "We'll see you soon."

Blake nodded and hit a key on her scroll. The screen cut to black as the call ended, and the import records she'd been perusing reappeared. She leant back with a groan and gazed up at the ceiling. They really were getting nowhere, and fast. They'd been searching for days, and were still just as clueless as they were to begin with.

The wheels of Blake's chair squeaked as she pushed it back and got to her feet. She opened the window and breathed in as a cool breeze flowed into the room. Someone laughed outside her office; Blake crossed the room and opened the door, curious. The door to Kelly's office across the corridor was open, and Raud was sitting across from Kelly—with his back to Blake. He held a glass in one hand and had the other resting on the neck of a bottle of scotch sitting on the desk. His axe was on the floor, leaning against the side of the desk.

Blake stood in the open doorway and crossed her arms. Kelly was giggling into her hand, but stopped suddenly when she saw Blake. Raud cocked his head in what Blake guessed was confusion at the sudden change in attitude and turned around. His eyebrows raised as he recognised Blake, and he swung his chair around ninety degrees.

"Hey," he said, taking a sip of scotch.

"Hey to you too," Blake replied, eyeing the glass in his hand.

"What's going on?"

"Do you always drink in the middle of the day?"

"Only when I've got nothing to do. And until the knucklehead gets back, that's _exactly_ what I have to do."

Blake raised an eyebrow and stared at him for a few seconds. Then she sighed and walked back into her office, grabbed a chair, dragged it into Kelly's office and slumped into it.

"Pour me one too," she muttered, defeated. He grinned and picked up another glass; he half-filled it and handed it to her before topping up his own glass. He held the bottle out to Kelly, who merely glanced between it and Blake with a hint of fear. It wasn't until Blake raised the glass to her lips and took a sip that Kelly took the bottle, filling up her own glass.

"That's more like it," Raud said with a broad grin. "Nothing like a drink amongst pals."

Blake lowered the glass and raised an eyebrow. "Pals, huh?"

"Of course!" Raud laughed. Kelly smiled over the rim of her glass before taking a small sip.

"We've known you for—what—three days? Four?" Blake asked. "And we're pals already?" Despite the banter, Blake took another swig of scotch. It burned her throat on the way down and sent a shiver through her body, but the pleasant warmth in her stomach was a comfort.

"Aww…" Raud gave her a mock frown. "Do you still not trust me?"

"Well you still haven't given me a reason to… though I have to admit that this helps," she added, holding up her glass.

He laughed. "Well, have I given you a reason to _not_ trust me?"

Blake hesitated, then took another sip. "An excellent point."

"I thought so." Raud swirled the scotch in his glass for a second before downing the whole thing. Blake winced at the sight; the glass was more than half-full, and the small sips she was taking was enough to burn. He grimaced a little and shivered. "Damn!" he exclaimed. "They didn't tell me that you made such good scotch in Vale."

"They?" Blake asked. "Your 'employers'?"

"Yup," Raud replied, topping up his glass.

"So what exactly do they 'employ' you for? What do you do?"

He shrugged. "Whatever they want me to do."

"What, like some kind of mercenary?" Blake asked with a hint of scorn.

"Pretty much."

"Huh?"

"I _am_ a mercenary."

Blake froze, the glass halfway to her lips. "And you just _forgot_ to mention that?"

He shrugged. "Mercenaries aren't exactly respected nowadays. I figured it was just one less hurdle to have to jump over."

"Then why tell me now?"

"Because you're already searching. If you want me gone, I can go. As long as you're looking for the Dust, my job is done."

Kelly was glancing back and forth between the two of them, her glass held to her lips with both hands. Blake glanced at the girl and raised her hands in exasperation. The lock of green in Kelly's hair swung free as she shrugged.

With a resigned sigh, Blake turned back to Raud. "Fine. Whatever. Just… Is there anything else you'd like to share?"

Raud shook his head. "Nope. I can't tell you who I'm working for, and I'd guess that would be your next question." Blake frowned. He was right. "And since I can't tell you that, there's really no point in getting worked up about this anymore. So drink up!" He raised his glass and eyed them both expectantly. Blake and Kelly both glanced at each other. The Faunus sighed and tapped her glass to Raud's. Kelly followed suit a moment later.

"So have you heard from the knucklehead?" Raud asked as he set his glass on the table.

"I was just talking to Pyrrha. They couldn't find anything. They'll be back later today, and I guess from there we just start from scratch again…"

"Really?" Raud frowned. "They didn't find _anything_? Did they search the tunnels?"

"They tried but apparently the caves are too big for the three of them to search…" _Tunnels…? _"I guess we could get a squad of troops to scour through it, though we'd have to risk people finding out about the search." _They're close enough to Vale that it could work… theoretically. _

"I'd rather avoid that," Raud muttered.

"Exactly," Blake said over her glass. _But there's no way we wouldn't notice them mining through like that…_

"Why can't we tell anyone?" Kelly asked, sipping gently from her glass. "Surely getting more help could only be a good thing…"

"We don't know who could be involved," Raud answered bitterly. "The whole operation in Vacuo is being aided by, or even controlled by, members of government. The more people we tell, the higher the risk of conspirators in Vale finding out."

"But surely we need to let _someone_ know," Kelly said. "This much Dust vanishing has to be cause for concern. What if it's getting into… undesirable hands?"

"Like who?"

"Well… The Black Talon has been pretty quiet lately, by their standards. What if… I don't know… they're getting ready for some big operation."

"They could take down Vale with the amount of Dust that's gone missing over the last few months…" Blake muttered.

"And those earthquakes wouldn't help either," Raud muttered. "Who knows when another one of them is going to hit."

_Oh gods… the earthquakes._

Blake shot to her feet. "I'll be right back." She dashed across to her office and swung into her chair. Pyrrha's name was flashing on the screen and Blake swallowed down a sense of foreboding.

She answered the call. "Pyrrha?"

The red-haired Huntress looked panicked. "Jaune and Nora just got back. Blake, the caves—"

"Go into Vale?"

"Yeah… How did you— Never mind. One of the caves at least comes out into the sewers under the city. We don't know how many others, but it could be any of them."

"Did you find any Dust?" Blake asked, trying to hide the fear that was burrowing into her chest.

"I…" Pyrrha frowned. "No. No Dust."

"So either they've taken it somewhere else…" Blake muttered.

"Or it's already in the city," they said in unison.

"Dammit…" Pyrrha swore. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Yeah…" Blake trailed off, thinking.

"Blake?"

The Faunus blinked. "Sorry. Thinking. I'll see you soon."

"Okay. We're heading out now." Pyrrha ended the call.

Blake trudged back into Kelly's office and slumped into her chair. She grabbed her glass and downed the rest of it in one gulp, earning an impressed look from Raud.

"Miss Belladonna?" Kelly asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Those earthquakes we've been having… Someone's been mining under the city through the caves in the forest."

"Oh no…" Kelly whispered.

Raud frowned and swirled his scotch. "So what does this mean?"

"I don't know," Blake sighed. "It could mean _anything_. Maybe they're smuggling the Dust back into the city. Maybe people are sneaking in—maybe the Talon. Or maybe Grimm are about to attack."

"Or maybe all three," Raud chuckled, shaking his head. "Damn… This is bad."

Blake hung her head back and looked up at the ceiling with a sigh. She held her glass out to Raud. "I'm gonna need another one of these."

"You and me both," the mercenary muttered.

They all slumped back in their chairs with matching sighs—though Kelly waited for Blake before following suit. Light streamed in through the window and Blake closed her eyes as the filtered warmth of the sun washed over her. A pleasant buzz filled her head; she set her glass on Kelly's desk and smiled contently.

For all they knew, the world could be coming down around them, but now that Blake had this moment of relaxation within her grasp, she was determined to take it. _Yang would be proud of me_, she thought with a light chuckle. A draught tousled her hair, blowing a lock across her face, but she made no move to adjust it. The scent of Yang's shampoo filled her nose. It was a habit of hers: whenever Yang was away, she would use her shampoo. So when Blake thought of her wife during the day, and felt lonely, she could smell her hair and feel at least a small measure of comfort.

The Faunus breathed in. Yang's face appeared before her eyes, smiling affectionately. The image faded as she breathed out.

"You guys planned a party and didn't invite me?"

Blake's eyes shot open and she turned to the door. Yang was standing in the corridor, wearing an amused smile. The Faunus shot out of her chair and wrapped her arms around the blonde Huntress.

"Woah!" Yang laughed. "Hey! I wasn't gone for that long."

Blake pulled back and planted a kiss on Yang's lips. She remembered why Yang had left a moment later and pulled back, searching the hallway for Ruby. Their red-haired leader was nowhere to be seen. Yang answered Blake's confused, questioning look with a grin.

"I dunno what happened," Yang said with a shrug. "But when I found her, she seemed… better. Like, completely better. Back to good old Ruby." Blake felt an eyebrow raise on its own. "I know," Yang added, raising a placating hand. "I didn't believe it at first either. But on the flight home… she convinced me. She's better, Blake," Yang choked out, her eyes brimming with tears. "She's all better."

Blake smiled. If Yang was convinced, then it had to be true. Ruby wasn't that good a liar—especially when it came to Yang. "So where is she?"

Yang dashed away the tears and grinned. "On her way to Mistral."

Blake gasped and clasped both hands over her mouth. "She's going to see Weiss?"

"Yep. They talked during the flight. Who knows, maybe the old gang is getting back together."

Blake smiled. It might be too soon to tell for _that_, but at least there was hope now.

Yang clapped her hands together. "So, about this party…"

Raud grabbed another glass—_how many did he _bring_?—_and half-filled it. The scotch bottle was less than half-full now. Blake had to check it again before she believed it. They surely hadn't drunk that much…

Yang downed it all in one hit and—after she finished cringing—handed the glass back to Raud and waved a hand. "I'm good," she wheezed. "Just the one. _Damn_ that stuff is strong." The mercenary grinned and downed the last of his glass. "Right," Yang continued. "Next point of business. I got a message on the way here: apparently the two guys I captured with Nora were moved into the holding cells last night."

Blake felt a rush of excitement, and mentally kicked herself. The prisoners had completely slipped her mind. While there was no guarantee of a connection between the captives and what they'd been investigating, but any potential leads now were like a gift.

"Oh _damn_!" Kelly swore. "I knew I'd forgotten something!" They turned to her as one, making her blush. "One of the orderlies came by last night—after you went home, Miss Belladonna—and mentioned it. He asked me to let you know, but I guess he messaged you as well, Miss Xiao Long."

Blake smiled. "It's fine, Kelly. Though…" She frowned. "Why were you here after I left? I told you to go home."

"Sorry, Ma'am." Kelly bowed her head. "I had some paperwork left to fill out. Miss Violet's transfers took some shuffling around of other schedules," she added at Blake's raised eyebrows.

The Faunus gaped at the woman. Then she chuckled. "Only you, Kelly, would keep working on things like that with everything else we're dealing with going on as well."

Kelly frowned. "There's no reason to fall behind on the paperwork, Ma'am."

"Of course." Blake shook her head as she chuckled. She got to her feet and turned towards Yang. "Come on. They might know something that could help us."

Yang nodded and turned down the hallway. Blake glanced back into the room. "Are you two coming?"

Raud and Kelly both looked to each other before responding. Kelly nodded, Raud shrugged and grabbed his axe, then they both got up and followed her out of the office.

* * *

><p>There was a female guard at the locked door that led into Beacon's small block of a holding cells. The door was made of steel and had one small window at head height, blocked with vertical bars. The guard frowned slightly as she saw them approaching and slowly got out of her chair as they arrived.<p>

"What can I do for you today?" she asked.

"There were two prisoners brought in last night," Yang replied. "I'd like to talk to them."

After a moment, the guard tapped a few keys on her scroll. A list appeared on its screen. "Name?" she asked, glancing up at Yang.

"Yang Xiao Long."

Another moment passed before the woman nodded and pressed a button on her desk, unlocking the door. Yang nodded her thanks as the guard sat back down and opened the door.

Beacon didn't have many holding cells—it wasn't a prison—but it had a few in place for temporary prisoners, or people deemed to have an important connection to a Huntsmen's business. There was one corridor, with five cells on each side, and one more at the far end. The doors were all the same as the one leading into the block—heavy steel and one small window—but they were all numbered, going from cell number one on their left all the way around so cell number eleven was to their right.

Yang glanced back towards the window. "Five and seven," the guard said without looking up. Yang nodded again and led the way to the end of the corridor.

Their steps rang out on the bare, grey concrete floor. Someone groaned in cell number three. Blake avoided looking in the window. It was a dismal place. The corridor was illuminated by two fluorescent lights on the ceiling, which cast everything in an even drearier light.

Yang stopped at cell five and looked in the window. The steel rang as she knocked her fists against the door. "Hey! Get up!"

There was no response.

Blake glanced towards cell seven, but no sound came from there either. Yang knocked on cell five again before crossing the hall and trying cell seven. Still nothing. Blake frowned and looked down, tapping her foot impatiently. A scuff in the floor caught her eye. She glanced back the way they'd come. The floor was completely level and free of any marks, except for this one. It looked as if a small chunk of the concrete had been neatly sliced out.

_What the hell are you doing, Blake?_ She thought with a groan. _Those drinks were a bad idea. _Her head was still buzzing lightly—no doubt the cause of her distraction.

"_Hey_!" Yang yelled through the window of cell seven. "Screw this," she swore after a moment. "Hey, can you open up seven?" she called to the guard. There was a buzz and a click, and Yang pushed the door open.

Blake stepped into the room after her. The cells were plain. A single bed against the wall, a toilet and sink, and a small desk and chair. Light streamed in through the small window in the wall—even smaller than the window in the door—and there was a small fluorescent bulb set in the ceiling. A man—Yang's prisoner presumably—was lying on the bed, facing the wall.

Something metallic drifted into Blake's nose. She sniffed and shuddered. There was a dark stain on the floor near the bed. Yang reached out to grab the man's shoulder.

"Yang, stop!" Blake called. But it was too late. The blonde Huntress grabbed the man's shoulder and rolled him towards them, revealing the puddle of blood soaked into the bed sheets and staining the wall. The prisoner rolled limply; his head hung back and the fluorescent bulb shone a pale light on his slit throat.

"Oh gods!" Yang staggered back, covering her mouth and nose.

Raud looked in. "What is it—" He trailed off into a stream of curses as he saw the dead man. Blake stepped around him, back into the corridor. The guard was standing at the door to the cell block, looking concerned.

"Open up five!" Blake called as the woman opened her mouth.

The guard vanished and, a moment later, cell five unlocked. The Faunus dashed into the room and could smell the blood immediately. Covering her nose, she stepped back into the corridor and shook her head at Raud's questioning look. The mercenary swore again and stepped into cell five, turning the man over. Another stream of curses issued from the cell.

"_Damn it!_" Yang hissed. "What the hell!? How did this happen?"

The guard ran down the corridor, stopping a metre away. "What happened?"

"They're both _dead_!" Yang yelled, throwing her arms up. "How the hell does someone kill two prisoners inside _Beacon_!"

"I… I don't know," the guard muttered.

Raud stepped back into the corridor, shaking his head. He noticed a smudge of blood on one hand and idly wiped it on his pants. "They've been dead for hours," he said. "Must've been killed sometime last night." He shot a questioning look at the guard.

"I started at dawn," she said in response to the glance. "No one mentioned anything happening during the night."

"Who… who could have done it?" Blake asked of no one in particular.

"I don't know," Yang muttered. "But I have _an_ idea…"

Blake looked at her wife; she was glaring at Raud. The mercenary caught the gaze and scoffed. "What? _Me?_ Are you serious?" He seemed somewhat amused by the implied accusation. "How the hell would I have found out they'd been moved? How would I have gotten in? Not to mention the fact that I have no reason to _want_ to kill them _in the first place_!" he roared the last. All traces of amusement were gone, replaced by a sudden fury.

"Where were you last night, then?" Yang asked him. She stepped closer, so their faces were inches apart.

A vein pulsed in Raud's forehead as he glared right back at her. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

Yang raised an eyebrow and hints of flame licked at her hair. "So help me, I will beat you down right here and throw you in one of these cells myself."

The mercenary sneered. "Wouldn't it be fun to try."

Blake became painfully aware of the collapsed bracelets of Ember Celica around Yang's wrists, as well as the axe handle sticking out over Raud's head. Any second now, she knew, this could explode. She stepped forward, trying to get in between them.

"_He was with me!_"

All three of them froze and looked at Kelly. The woman had been standing in the middle of the corridor, avoiding looking in the cells, and now she looked angry.

"Just stop!" she said. "There's no point to this. He was with me, alright? After I finished off the last of the paperwork, Raud and I went out. He wanted to see more of Vale."

Yang turned back to Raud. "So he was with you when you heard about the—"

"No!" Kelly cut her off. "He was waiting for me at his hotel. I was only here until ten o'clock, and then after that neither of us were anywhere near Beacon."

Yang paused for a moment, and then stepped back. She sent a look at Blake. "_What do you think?"_ the look asked. The Faunus hesitated for a moment, and glanced at Kelly. The woman looked shaken, but determined. She glanced at Raud, remembering their earlier discussion about trust.

"I believe them," she said with a sigh. "As much as I hate the alternative, I don't think Raud did it."

Raud nodded at her, but still seemed angry. His face was red, and Blake could see blood vessels fit to burst in his eyes. He walked to the far end of the corridor, near the entrance, and sucked in a deep breath. Blake watched him for a moment, concerned, but turned back to Yang once he waved her away.

The blonde Huntress was still eyeing Raud, but she smiled and nodded at Blake when she met her gaze. "Okay," Yang said as she wrapped her arms around Blake. "If you believe them, I do too. I just… I don't trust him…"

Blake patted Yang on the arm. "I'm not entirely convinced either, but I trust Kelly."

Yang nodded and kissed her lightly on the forehead before pulling away. Blake immediately missed Yang's warmth, but restrained herself. She turned to the guard, who looked utterly confounded. "Go to the infirmary," she said. "Get a nurse. We need to move these bodies out of here. We'll stay here while you're gone."

The guard hesitated for a moment, glancing at each of them, then nodded and dashed past Raud and out the door. The door clicked shut with a sense of finality, like a coffin closing.

"So now what?" Yang asked.

"Now," Blake muttered. "We're in trouble."

"Big trouble," Raud added.

Yang frowned and glanced towards one of the cells. "Do you know who did it?" she asked.

Blake shook her head. "It doesn't matter. If no one here killed them, then that means one thing: someone in Beacon is working against us, and got to them first. Which means someone is _definitely_ up to something in Vale, and it goes up high. We're not just dealing with some petty criminals, or the Talon. There are people at _Beacon_ trying to stop us from finding out what these men knew."

"Ah…" Yang grunted. "Trouble."

In a sudden flash of realisation, Blake remembered the member of the Black Talon Jaune and Pyrrha had captured. "Oh damn!" she hissed. "I'll be right back." She dashed to the door and wrenched it open.

"Where are you going?" Yang called after her.

"To check the other one!" Then Blake was running down the hall. The infirmary wasn't far from the holding cells. The guard was running back with a nurse when Blake arrived. The guard looked confused to see her, but ran past without a word.

Thankfully, there was another nurse nearby, and Blake put a hand lightly on his shoulder. He jumped slightly at the sudden touch, but turned with a welcoming smile.

"How can I help—" he began.

"There's a man in here somewhere—a Faunus—with aura shock. Where is he?"

The nurse was surprised at the intensity in Blake's voice, but collected himself quickly. "Umm… In Secure Ward Two. Follow me."

He led Blake through a series of corridors until they came to a heavy door, similar to those in the holding cells. The nurse unlocked it with a key and let Blake in. She ran to the still form of the Faunus prisoner and yanked back his covers.

Blood. The stench hit her like a fist, and Blake retched. The Faunus' throat was slit from ear-to-ear, just like the other two prisoners.

_Damn it… That settles it_, Blake thought. _Someone knows all about us._ She sighed in resignation. _Hurry back, Pyrrha. We're going to need all the manpower we can get now. Things are only going to get worse._


End file.
